The House of Representatives has approved a bill that could result in TikTok being prohibited in the United States. The bill was approved with a vote of 352 to 65. Fifteen Republicans and 50 Democrats voted against it.
What will occur with the bill once it moves to the Senate is currently unknown.
The bill's passage through the House is noteworthy from a political perspective. Despite the House being currently controlled by the GOP and 197 Republicans voting to allow the ban, as opposed to 155 Democrats, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has expressed opposition to the potential ban.
The bill is more complex than an outright ban. The legislation, if approved, would prevent TikTok from being available in U.S. app stores as long as the platform is still owned by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. If the social media app is no longer owned by its current Chinese owners or is acquired by another company, it could theoretically remain. Currently, around 170 million Americans use the app.
“What we’re after is, it’s not a ban, it’s a forced separation,” Representative Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) told NPR. “The TikTok user experience can continue and improve so long as ByteDance doesn’t own the company.”
“The government is trying to take away the Constitutional right to free expression from 170 million Americans. This will harm many businesses, prevent artists from reaching an audience and ruin the livelihoods of numerous creators across the country,” TikTok said in a statement.
More information to be announced …
