In a bipartisan majority on Sunday, the House of Representatives voted for an updated divest-or-ban bill on TikTok that may result in the popular social media app facing a total ban in the US.
The passage of the updated version of the bill came after Maria Cantwell, the Senate commerce committee chair, urged the House in March to revise the bill’s details, which now extends TikTok’s parent company ByteDance’s divestment period from six months to a year.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Cantwell said: “As I’ve said, extending the divestment period is necessary to ensure there is enough time for a new buyer to get a deal done. I support this updated legislation.”
The updated TikTok bill comes as part of House Republican speaker Mike Johnson’s foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
Critics of the popular social media app argue that ByteDance, which is based in China, could collect user data and censor content that is critical of the Chinese government. In March, Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, warned in a House intelligence committee hearing that China could use TikTok to influence the US’s 2024 presidential elections.
“This bill protects Americans and especially America’s children from the malign influence of Chinese propaganda on the app TikTok. This app is a spy balloon in Americans’ phones,” Michael McCaul, Texas’s Republican representative and the bill’s author said, Bloomberg reports.
Meanwhile, TikTok has repeatedly said that it has not and would not share US user data with the Chinese government. “TikTok is an independent platform, with its own leadership team, including a CEO based in Singapore, a COO based in the US and a global head of trust and safety based in Ireland,” the company said.
In response to the House’s vote earlier this week, TikTok said: “It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7m businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24bn to the US economy, annually.”
In March, Joe Biden vowed to sign the TikTok bill, saying: “If they pass it. I’ll sign it.” That same month, Shou Zi Chew testified before Congress for more than five hours during which lawmakers grilled TikTok’s Singaporean CEO on China, drugs and teenage mental health.