TikTok Closer to Potential U.S. Ban as House Passes Bill Requiring Sale

[MacRumors]

The U.S. House of Representatives today approved legislation that would force TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the social media network or face a ban in the United States. The Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act will now go to the Senate, where its fate is unclear.

U.S. lawmakers want TikTok to be sold to a company outside of China due to concerns that the Chinese government could force ByteDance to hand over data from users located in the United States. If China made the request, ByteDance would not be able to refuse. There have also been suggestions that China could use TikTok to spread political propaganda.

ByteDance has attempted to alleviate these fears by storing data from U.S. users on servers owned by Oracle, but the White House and lawmakers do not believe that is enough.

If passed, the bill would require ByteDance to sell TikTok within six months to a company approved by the U.S. government. Should ByteDance not sell the company, U.S. app stores would not be able to distribute the app without breaking the law, effectively leading to a ban. China would also need to approve the sale, and the Chinese government made it clear last year that it would "firmly oppose" a forced sale.

There are a limited number of companies with enough capital to be able to afford TikTok, and the obvious choices, such as Google or Meta, would likely be barred from acquiring it due to antitrust concerns.

Should the bill make it through the Senate, U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed that he would sign it into law. A number of senators have expressed worries about the wording of the act, and it does not have universal support at this time.

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Article Link: TikTok Closer to Potential U.S. Ban as House Passes Bill Requiring Sale

 

[GizmoDVD]

This is going to get interesting

 

[hacky]

If you read article correctly, it's just about TikTok needs to change from chinese ByteDance to US entity. Solved. TikTok is not going to disappear from the US. It's quite easy for ByteDance to create US company for this purpose. Especially when they already separated the US infrastructure in the last years.

 

[TMRJIJ]

Those TikTokers will remember this during the election.

 

[dannyyankou]

I couldn't care less about the China ties, but TikTok in general is bad for society.

 

[Agent OrangeZ]

Kind of interesting how this 5-6 month timetable for a sale coincides with the election time frame. Perfect time to silence an entire social platform that you have no control over. I wonder what sort of legislation they have brewing for X/Twitter?

 

[TigerNike23]

I won’t try to eloquently state why I’m in favor of this, mainly because I didn’t sleep well last night, but I do share some serious concerns about where the data is going in relation to or in connection with ByteDance.

 

[roar08]

Should we ban other platforms that spread misinformation and contribute to election interference through bad actors?

 

[Agent OrangeZ]

I couldn't care less about the China ties, but TikTok in general is bad for society.

Why TikTok specifically? Aren't Meta Reels and YT Shorts equally as bad?

 

[Armada2]

Tiktok tiktok tiktok.. time is running out..

 

[roar08]

TikTok needs to change from chinese ByteDance to US entity.

It's saying they need to sell to a non-Chinese entity, not necessarily a US firm.

 

[jz0309]

This is going to be fun to watch over the next 5 months…

 

[TigerNike23]

Should we ban other platforms that spread misinformation and contribute to election interference through bad actors?

In the US, that would run afoul of the First Amendment’s right to freedom of speech. This law may run afoul of it anyway and get struck down, but the point was more about where the data is going.

 

[dannyyankou]

Why TikTok specifically? Aren't Meta Reels and YT Shorts equally as bad?

Well, TikTok started the trend.

I just don't like this culture where everyone is trying to be a celebrity. And they'll go to extremes no matter how stupid or foolish to try to get attention.

 

[Jeaz]

The irony of this is that the US have similar laws under the Patriot Act which has been causing concern from the EU for years. There's been agreements and so on between US and EU, but it's not a full protection according to some.

It could be a quite troublesome future if this is a new trend. I can't imagine the Chinese government will just let this go without some retaliation.

 

[magicschoolbus]

Please ban this nonsense. It's clear that China wants data on Americans and our mobile infrastructure.

 

[anthogag]

Yeah baby, ban Tik Tok. Do it...👏 China's government will most likely "firmly oppose" a forced sale...excellenté 👏 Tik Tok sucks. Who cares if stuff is on Oracle servers, they still have to bend over for China's government.

 

[TigerNike23]

Well, TikTok started the trend.

I just don't like this culture where everyone is trying to be a celebrity. And they'll go to extremes no matter how stupid or foolish to try to get attention.

Now TikTok shows ads on television about how great they are for old people dancing or some guy talking about the dangers of drunk driving or another talking about ranching.

Yeah, those are on TikTok, but so are things like the cinnamon challenge, Tide Pod challenge, NyQuil Chicken, and the Kia/Hyundai challenge.

 

[delsoul]

I avoid tik tok like it’s the plague, but government censoring more media platforms is no better than Google and Zuckerberg constantly censoring people on their YouTube and Facebook platforms. If people want to be act like a fool for a dollar/euro/yen etc on too tik tok then let them. Strange how the government is concerned about the CCP stealing users information, but the US gov themselves have zero qualms of doing the same. It’s only a problem because it’s someone else doing it.

 

[Pezimak]

The way TikTok has stuck two fingers up to laws around the globe will lead to its eventual closure. A cess pit of vulgar and hate. It is not only in the US the platform causes trouble.

 

[anthogag]

The irony of this is that the US have similar laws under the Patriot Act which has been causing concern from the EU for years. There's been agreements and so on between US and EU, but it's not a full protection according to some.

It could be a quite troublesome future if this is a new trend. I can't imagine the Chinese government will just let this go without some retaliation.

Retaliation for what? You haven't heard of the "Great Firewall of China"?

 

[roar08]

In the US, that would run afoul of the First Amendment’s right to freedom of speech. This law may run afoul of it anyway and get struck down, but the point was more about where the data is going.

If the government decides they're breaking the law in any form (whether or not that's a legitimate claim), the 1st provides no protection.

 

[Realityck]

If you read article correctly, it's just about TikTok needs to change from chinese ByteDance to US entity. Solved. TikTok is not going to disappear from the US. It's quite easy for ByteDance to create US company for this purpose. Especially when they already separated the US infrastructure in the last years.

Certainly they could. The past allegation that WSJ reported of the CCP accessing actual TikTok user data still hasn't been substantiated. But it certainly doesn't hurt to remove that thought completely by utilizing a separate entity.

 

[chewbaka]

Why TikTok specifically? Aren't Meta Reels and YT Shorts equally as bad?

Maybe because this article is about TikTok…

 

[turbineseaplane]

...and nothing of value will have been lost