The US House of Representatives voted this Saturday (04/20/2024), in parallel with the foreign aid packages that include Ukraine and Israel, a bill law establishing the ban of the TikTok platform in the country if it does not cut ties with its parent company in China.
The legislation forces the China-based company ByteDance to dissociate itself from the short video application TikTok, the currently fastest-growing social network, within nine months, or else this platform would be banned in the United States. The sale period could be extended for another year, a decision that would be in the hands of the president of the United States.
US lawmakers argue that the platform represents a threat to the national security of the United States due to the possibility of the Chinese Government accessing user data. The United States intelligence community has already accused Beijing of having used TikTok to influence the 2022 midterm elections and warned that it could also try to interfere in the November elections this year due to its desire to “widen the divisions of the American society.
The measure, which was also previously voted on in the House, opening an intense debate, It has the acceptance of the Senate along with the support of the president, Joe Bidenwhich nevertheless began using the platform in its campaign, and puts TikTok closer than ever to a ban in the United States. TikTok spoke out after the vote, pointing out that the ban would “violate the freedom of expression” of 170 million American users.
Keep reading:
• China assures that “repression” on the social network TikTok will end up turning against the United States
• Why does Congress want to ban the TikTok network in the United States?
• The government tried to spy on millions of Americans using TikTok