US House passes bill to force TikTok to break from Chinese owner or face ban

The bill was not voted along party lines, with 352 votes in favor and 65 against, including 15 Republicans and 50 Democrats. It must now be approved by the Senate, where its future is uncertain as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not indicated whether he will bring it up for a vote. The bill was unanimously approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday, after receiving a closed-door briefing from the intelligence community on how TikTok accounts run by the Chinese government have already interfered in US elections. President Joe Biden has indicated that he will sign the bill.

If ultimately approved by both chambers and the administration, the bill would give China’s ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok 180 days to sell the app. The bill was introduced by Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, who say ByteDance poses a national security threat because of its alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party. But opponents worry about the impact on free speech of banning a form of communication that has 170 million users in the US. For example, Democrat Jim Himes, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, posted on social media that he opposed the bill because he believes “there is a way to address the challenge posed by TikTok that is consistent with our commitment to freedom of expression.” Former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) tried to ban TikTok in 2020, alluding to the same “threat to national security” reason, though that action ended up in court and was overturned by current President Joe Biden without going into effect. He now opposes the ban. ByteDance has been negotiating with Microsoft to sell part of the company and has partnered with Oracle to store US data on domestic servers. TikTok said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, after the vote that “the bill was jammed through for one reason: it’s a ban.” EFE egp/ics/mcd