The US House of Representatives passed legislation on Saturday (April 20) that would ban TikTok in the country if the platform’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, does not sell its ownership within a year. According to the Associated Press, House Republicans’ decision to include TikTok as part of a wider foreign aid package fast-tracked the ban, which had previously stalled in the Senate.
TikTok is unlikely to go away very soon
In March, the House enacted a standalone bill with a shorter deadline by an overwhelming bipartisan vote, with Democrats and Republicans expressing national security concerns about ByteDance.
The updated proposal, which passed by a vote of 360-58, now goes to the Senate following discussions that extended the company’s selling timeframe to nine months, with a possible three-month extension if a sale is in progress, according to reports.
Legal disputes could push that deadline even further, and TikTok is unlikely to go away very soon.
US President Joe Biden has announced that he plans to sign the measure on Saturday.
President Biden expressed his worries about TikTok to Chinese President Xi Jinping over the phone earlier this month.
TikTok was quick to respond to Saturday’s legislation, claiming that a ban would violate free expression and damage businesses.
“It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the US economy, annually,” TikTok said in a statement.
