The United States (US) House has passed a bill to ban TikTok in six months unless its parent company ByteDance, based in China, divests from the social media platform.
TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi responded to the bill as “disappointing” and promised that he and the company will continue to fight for its users in the US.
On Wednesday (13 March), the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) introduced the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
The bill calls TikTok a “threat to national security” because it is controlled by a “foreign adversary”.
It was passed with a 352-65 vote, with one member voting present, CNBC reports.
The bill will now be brought to the Senate.
Reports suggest there’s some uncertainty over whether it will be passed.
Much of the opposition centres around the need to protect the First Amendment.
The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and the right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Previous efforts to ban the app have stalled in the Senate, according to CBS.
However, US President Joe Biden said he would sign the bill as soon as it landed on his desk.
Mr Chew took to TikTok’s official account to share the company’s response to the bill’s passing on Thursday (14 March).
Calling the vote “disappointing”, he reiterated that TikTok has invested to keep the data of US users safe, as well as free from “outside manipulation”.
“We have committed, and we will continue to do so,” he said.
He stressed that the bill “gives more power to a handful of other social media companies”, as well as take billions from creators and small businesses.
Mr Chew promised that TikTok would not stop advocating for its users and called on them to protect their constitutional rights.
Since the bill was first introduced, TikTok has sought to fight its legislation through rallying.
It urged US users to phone their local representative, but reports indicate this has backfired.
Several Republican and Democrat representatives say the lobbying has “strengthened their resolve” to pass the legislation.
The office of Florida Congressman Neal Dunn said ByteDance’s efforts had validated his concerns, per BBC.
“American phones were geolocated and TikTok users were locked out of the platform until they called their members of Congress,” he said.
“ByteDance weaponized the app against America, and that is exactly why the Congressman supports this measure.”
Some of the calls were alleged to be flagged for security reasons due to “extreme rhetoric”. Many of the calls appeared to be made by “vulnerable school-aged children”, he added.
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Featured image adapted from @tiktok on TikTok.
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