A new bill just passed the U.S. House: could it ban TikTok?
On March 13, 2024, The House of Representatives voted on passing a bipartisan bill that could lead to the removal of one of the biggest social media apps in the United States: TikTok. Lawmakers have argued that TikTok poses a national security threat because the Chinese government can access user data and its algorithm could influence the U.S. public. As a result of the bill, TikTok would be prohibited from U.S. app stores unless ByteDance sells the app within 5 months. If not sold within that time, the app would be blocked to its 170 million American users. Financial analysts can estimate that the potential sale would cost more than $100 billion.
The final vote was 352-65, with 50 Democrats and 15 Republicans opposing. “Communist China is America’s largest geopolitical foe and is using technology to actively undermine America’s economy and security,” Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement after the vote.
So what now? The bill must now be approved by the Senate, where its future is still up in the air. But even if it did pass the Senate, it still has a long way to go. However, President Joe Biden has previously said if the bill makes it to his desk, he would sign it. To add on, Former President Donald Trump spoke out opposing the bill. This surprised everyone because back in 2020 he unsuccessfully attempted to ban TikTok via executive order.
“I think that it is a violation of people’s First Amendment rights,” Florida Democrat Maxwell Frost said, opposing the bill. “TikTok is a place for people to express ideas. I have many small businesses in my district and content creators in my district, and I think it’s going to drastically impact them, too.” Frost, 27, is currently the youngest member of Congress.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew expressed gratitude to the TikTok user community in a video that was uploaded to X (previously Twitter). He also stated that the company has made investments to keep user’s “data safe and our platform free from outside manipulation.” Should the bill become law, he warned, it would affect hundreds of thousands of American jobs and steal “billions of dollars out of the pockets of creators and small businesses.”
As the future of the bipartisan bill remains unknown, people are still divided on what side they support. According to the Pew Research Center, more than twice as many Americans support the TikTok “ban” (50% vs. 22%).
