If you’ve been on the internet over the past few days, odds are, you’ve seen a lot of discourse surrounding the TikTok ban. On March 13, the House approved a bill that could ban TikTok and now, the bill is heading to the Senate. The House of Representatives, by a wide margin, passed the bill, that would make it illegal to distribute or host TikTok in the U.S. If you’re wondering what this means for the future of TikTok, allow me to fill you in as best I can.
This is the first time a congressional bill has been passed that would outlaw an internet app, according to Variety. The bill also has support from President Biden. The act, called the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, would force ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, to divest the app within roughly five months of going into effect, or, banning it from U.S. app stores and web hosting services, according to The Hill.
The bill quickly passed through The House in a floor vote scheduled less than a week after it was first introduced by Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), the top lawmakers on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
Despite the bill passing quickly through the House, the measure’s fate in the Senate are ambiguous as there is currently no corresponding legislation on the table, according to Variety. President Biden did say he would sign the bill.
If the act is signed into law, the legislation is expected to face potential legal challenges from TikTok.
This is not the first time a TikTok ban has been discussed, but it is one of the more successful attempts. Past attempts to ban the app in the U.S. have failed on First Amendment grounds. According to Variety, “courts found legal challenges have presented only hypothetical national security risks instead of actual evidence TikTok has shared any data with Chinese authorities.”
Now, if you’re wondering what the future of TikTok will look like, here’s what we know so far.
An American TikTok ban would only escalate the growing tensions between the U.S. and China. Chinese officials have stated that the government would “firmly oppose” any sort of forced sale of TikTok as it would “seriously undermine the confidence of investors from various countries, including China, to invest in the United States,” said a Ministry of Commerce spokeswoman, Shu Jueting.
Supporters of the bill say it “aims to curb national security posed by ByteDance, which they say could share sensitive data from American users with the Chinese government,” according to The Hill. However, TikTok has pushed against the allegations that the app poses national security risks and strongly opposed the legislation.
After the vote was passed, a TikTok spokesperson expressed their frustration with the House for the “rushed” process. “This process was secret and the bill was jammed through for one reason: it’s a ban. We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents, and realize the impact on the economy, 7 million small businesses, and the 170 million Americans who use our service,” they said.
But, what does it mean if this law is enacted? Because the bill is heading to Senate, there isn’t too much information we’re aware of as of this writing, but we’ll be sure to keep you updated as we learn more.