Why Congress Voted to Force a Sale of TikTok in the U.S.
A push to force the sale in the United States of the short-form video app TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, took a leap forward as the U.S. House of Representatives voted on Saturday to ban the social media platform unless it is sold to a government-approved buyer.
The Senate is expected to vote on the legislation as early as Tuesday, and President Biden is expected to support it.
Lawmakers raising concerns about data security in the United States, Europe and Canada have escalated efforts to restrict the reach of the popular app.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 360 to 58 to give the company up to a year to find a buyer, considering the measure on the same day as Congress voted on an aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other American allies. The bill would also impose sanctions on Iran.
Momentum has been building for more than a year. The White House had told federal agencies in February 2023 to delete TikTok from government devices. The next month, House lawmakers grilled TikTok’s chief executive, Shou Chew, about the app’s ownership and China’s potential influence.
In March 2024, the House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced a bill calling for TikTok to cut ties with its parent company or face a ban in the United States. The bill, endorsed by the White House, passed in March, but the Senate took no action. Bundling a version of that measure with the aid package was meant to force the Senate’s hand.