TikTok could be banned in the United States after the House of Representatives voted to pass a landmark bill.
The bill — which was passed overwhelmingly on March 13 — would give the social media platform’s Chinese parent company ByteDance six months to either sell its controlling stake or face being blocked in North America.
If the bill is to become law, it needs to clear the Senate and then be signed by President Joe Biden.
TikTok’s chief executive Shou Zi Chew has described the vote — which was a landslide, with 352 Congress members in favour and just 65 against — as “disappointing.”
He insisted the social media platform will do “all [it] can” to protect its future,” adding that TikTok has put money into keeping data safe as well as ensuring the platform is free from outside influences.
“This bill gives more power to a handful of other social media companies, who will also take billions of dollars out of the pockets of creators and small businesses,” Chew continued in a video message. “It will put more than 300,000 American jobs at risk and will take away your TikTok.”
TikTok has urged users in America to “let Congress know” that they don’t support a nationwide ban on the video-sharing app.”
“Speak up now — before your government strips 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression,” an ad on the app targeted at U.S. users read. “Let Congress know what TikTok means to you and tell them to vote NO.”
Fears were raised about the owners of the app potentially sharing information with the Chinese government.
TikTok’s parent company has repeatedly denied claims the Chinese government has access to user data of the app — which is very popular among teenagers and those in their 20s — and has called it “unfounded speculation.”
Already more than half of U.S. states and the federal government have disallowed TikTok from state-issued devices either completely or partially. Similar policies have been introduced in the Netherlands, the U.K. and the European Commission.
