Tag Archives: Bill

A social media app popular for short-form video content once again finds itself in a precarious position. Lawmakers in Washington D.C. moved forward with a bill on Wednesday that could lead to a nationwide TikTok ban.

The House passed legislation that would ban TikTok if its China-based owner ByteDance doesn’t sell its stakes in the platform within six months of the bill’s enactment, according to The Associated Press (AP).

How could the bill potentially ban TikTok?

The legislation essentially gives ByteDance two options: sell TikTok or face a ban.

If ByteDance chooses to divest its stakes, TikTok will continue to operate in the U.S. However, the president would need to determine whether the platform is “no longer being controlled by a foreign…

The House of Representatives by a wide margin passed a bill that would make it illegal to distribute or host TikTok in the U.S. — effectively blocking it from some 170 million American users — unless Chinese owner ByteDance divests its interest in the popular app.

It’s the first time a congressional bill has passed that would outlaw an internet app. The fears among many American lawmakers, who see TikTok as a national security threat: that the Chinese regime could demand access to data on TikTok’s U.S. users or somehow compel it to promote China’s agenda. TikTok has repeatedly claimed the Chinese government has never made such demands (and that TikTok would not comply with them if they were made).

More from Variety

The bill, dubbed the “Protecting Americans From Foreign…

The US House of Representatives has passed a bill which would ban TikTok in the US if its owners don’t sell.

The bill would force the app’s owner ByteDance to sell its stake in the platform within six months or have the app be banned from US app stores and web hosting services.

It was introduced amid concerns over ByteDance’s connections to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The bill passed by a vote of 352-65, and will now go on to the Senate, according to the Associated Press.

TikTok currently has around 170 million users in the US.

Lawmakers in favour of the bill…

On Tuesday, billionaire tech executive and X owner Elon Musk raised concerns about a bill making its way through Congress that seeks to clamp down on U.S. access to social media applications such as Chinese-owned TikTok unless they sever ties with foreign adversaries that are deemed a national security threat.

Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist” who championed the “Twitter Files,” responded to a post from Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) highlighting text from the legislation that addresses websites and businesses that provide services to social media platforms found to be in violation of proposed law.

“The so-called TikTok ban is a trojan horse. The President will be given the power to ban WEB SITES, not just Apps. The person breaking the new law is deemed to be the U.S….