In the United States, the House of Representatives adopted a bill this week which could result in an outright ban on TikTok on American territory… if the platform does not cut ties with ByteDance, its parent company, deemed too close to the Chinese authorities.
Could TikTok be banned from the US? The idea was raised during the mandate of Donald Trump, but it is paradoxically under the Biden presidency that a ban on the Chinese platform could come to fruition.
In Washington, the House of Representatives adopted a bill this Wednesday providing for the outright ban of TikTok on the American market if the social network does not cut ties with ByteDance, its parent company. It is accused of colluding with the Chinese regime… and of sharing its users’ data with Beijing as part of an intelligence law adopted in China in 2017.
A text that achieves (almost) consensus
As reported by 20 Minutes, the text of the law adopted across the Atlantic by the House of Representatives was approved by a large majority of elected officials (352 votes out of 432). It is also intended to be measured, aiming mainly to “ resolve legitimate national security and data protection concerns related to the Chinese Communist Party’s dealings with [ce] social network “, as Hakeem Jeffries indicated, leader of the Democratic Party in the House.
“ Today’s vote, which brought together lawmakers from both parties, shows Congress’ opposition to Communist China’s attempts to spy and manipulate Americans and is a sign of our resolve to deter our enemies. », Commented Mike Johnson, Republican President of the House, in a much more martial tone.
Note that the text voted by the House of Representatives is also supported by Joe Biden. The American president indicated that if the Senate in turn adopted this bill, he would promulgate it immediately. The text would then be implemented, which would forcede factoByteDance to resell TikTok — potentially to an American company — within 180 days. Otherwise, TikTok would then be excluded from the Google and Apple application stores in the United States.
The US Senate still has to decide… and nothing is decided
However, as mentioned above, the bill in question must still be validated by the Senate. And, in this case, it is not a given: several leading American political figures are opposed to such a radical measure being taken with regard to the Chinese platform. It must be said that the application is extremely popular in the United States, where it has no less than 170 million users.
ByteDance also engages in a stronglobbyingin Washington to try to block this text and prevent its adoption by the Senate. Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok, is also in the American capital to obtain support, underlines 20 Minutes.
“We hope that the Senate will take the facts into account, listen to its constituents and realize the impact (that a ban would have) on the economy», Commented a TikTok spokesperson. China, for its part, believes that a ban on the platform in the United States would undermine “the confidence of international investors”, and denounces the “intimidation» of which TikTok would be a victim.