TECH NEWS – The US House of Representatives has already voted to ban ByteDance’s social platform.

TikTok users in the US may be locked out of the app, as ByteDance, the Chinese parent company (with obvious ties to the Chinese Communist Party), has been given six months to sell its majority stake in the app, or else TikTok will be blocked in the country. This is because the company is tied to the Chinese government, so apps have to follow censorship protocols, and they also have to hand over all user data to the Chinese authorities if they are asked to do so. And that is very inconvenient for foreign governments. (Most of the time, anyway.)

In the House of Representatives (the US legislature is bicameral), the bill passed on a bipartisan basis, so Democrats and Republicans came together against TikTok! A two-thirds majority was needed, and there were 352 votes in favor and 65 against. Some members worried that the government was getting out of hand, and many Democratic lawmakers said it could alienate younger voters. The presidential election is in November, hence the concern. Among those opposed to the ban is former US President Donald Trump, although he is also going against his previous statements, having previously tried to ban the app.

U.S. House PASSES bill forcing on requiring TikTok to divest from China or face U.S. ban, 352-65. pic.twitter.com/K8NrCw50ti

— CSPAN (@cspan) March 13, 2024

The BBC quoted a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying, “This kind of bullying behavior, which cannot win in fair competition, disrupts companies’ normal business activities, damages international investors’ confidence in the investment environment, and harms the normal international economic and trade order.” Ironically, they are talking about tyrannical behavior. According to research firm Emarketer, TikTok will generate $8.66 billion in ad revenue in the U.S. market alone, making it an important app for advertisers.

TikTok is banned on government devices in several US states, Canada and European countries, it has been banned en bloc in India, and in Australia a Senate committee has warned that the app is one of the country’s biggest security risks. According to ByteDance, TikTok could be worth up to $268 billion (and has already been eyed by ex-ActiBlizz CEO Bobby Kotick…). And there’s no mention of antitrust or legal challenges if someone actually buys the app.

The bill now goes to the US Senate, the upper house, and if it passes there, it will be signed by US President Joe Biden right away (!).

Source: PCGamer, BBC, Emarketer