TECH NEWS – TikTok has issued a statement in response to a US Congressional committee passing a bill that could make it easier to ban the app.
TikTok is in serious trouble. A US Congressional committee has approved a bill to send to the President that, if signed into law, could make it easier to ban the social media app. A recent statement from the company condemns the fast-track passage of the bill. In their view, the freedom of speech of US users would be as much at risk as that of global TikTok users.
TikTok has come under increasing pressure from US government officials in recent years, as investigations into its parent company ByteDance and its links to the Chinese government could put Americans’ data at risk.
Recently, legislation was passed to ban the app from government officials’ devices. Colleges and universities have either voluntarily banned the use of TikTok, such as the University of Mississippi, or are following state-level laws, such as the University of Texas at Austin.
A statement issued by a company spokesperson expressed disappointment with the fast-track bill. It claims that TikTok is an American company that abides by American law. The statement stresses that banning the app would mean banning the export of American culture and would affect American values of free speech. In a further statement to CNN, TikTok said it would prefer to see the passage of a national security bill developed jointly with the US government, which it said would address these concerns.
The bill before the US Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee is entitled H.R. 1153, the Deterring America’s Technological Adversaries Act.
The bill would authorize the Biden administration to impose sanctions on ByteDance if the company “knowingly transferred TikTok’s user data to any foreign person working for or under the influence of the Chinese government.” The bill would include a level of sanctions that could even lead to a nationwide ban on TikTok. If ByteDance were proven to have passed on important information about Americans on behalf of the Chinese government.
Support and opposition to the bill are mainly divided along party lines. Republicans argue that ByteDance may have been pressured by the Chinese government to disclose sensitive information about Americans or to misinform them.
Democrats say the bill has moved through the process too quickly and could cause confusion and unwittingly put US and European businesses at risk.
A nationwide ban on the app would affect millions of Americans. Especially Generation Z. They use the platform for more than just trendy dances and pranks. For them, it’s one of the most important information channels. There is a growing risk that the Chinese government could negatively influence users. But this needs to be managed in a way that does not endanger Americans’ freedom of expression.
Source: CNN
TikTok responded to the US government's potential ban of the app pic.twitter.com/JXkgA711Qj
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) March 1, 2023
