The US House of Representatives issued an ultimatum to TikTok on Saturday by adopting a bill that could ban TikTok in the United States if the very popular social network does not cut its ties with its parent company ByteDance, and more broadly with China. . The video platform is accused by American officials of allowing Beijing to spy on and manipulate its 170 million users in the United States.
This text, which could lead to a rare ban on access to the American market, must now be validated by the Senate which should vote next week. It passed by a vote of 360 to 58, with both Democratic and Republican votes.
Joe Biden will sign the law
President Joe Biden has already said he will sign the law. The Democratic president reiterated his “concern” about TikTok during an exchange with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in early April. This proposal is part of a multi-pronged text that includes an aid plan for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan as well as these provisions concerning TikTok.
Banning TikTok “would violate the freedom of expression” of 170 million Americans, the popular social network immediately protested on Saturday. In a statement, a spokesperson for the platform added that the proposed ban bill “would devastate 7 million businesses and shut down a platform that contributes $24 billion per year to the American economy.” “It is regrettable that the House of Representatives is using the guise of significant foreign and humanitarian aid to once again pass a ban bill,” the spokesperson added.
TikTok’s parent company would be forced to sell the application within 12 months
If it comes into force, the text will force ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, to sell the application within 12 months, otherwise it would be excluded from the Apple and Google application stores on American territory. A similar text had already been adopted in mid-March by representatives, providing only a six-month period to find a buyer other than Chinese, but the bill then remained in parliamentary limbo.
Donald Trump’s former US Treasury Secretary, ex-banker Steven Mnuchin, even said he was interested in buying TikTok in the United States by bringing together a group of investors.
For years in the crosshairs of the American authorities
TikTok has been in the crosshairs of American authorities for years, with many officials believing that the short and entertaining video platform allows Beijing to spy on its users in the United States. But such a law could give rise to challenges in court. In particular, it would give the American president the power to designate other applications as threats to national security if they are controlled by a country considered hostile to the United States.
Elon Musk, the owner of X, already spoke out on Friday against the ban on TikTok in the United States in the name of “freedom of expression”. “In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the United States, even if such a ban could benefit the X platform,” he said on X (formerly Twitter), the social network he bought end of 2022. “This would go against freedom of speech and expression. This is not what America stands for,” added the owner and/or boss of Tesla, SpaceX, other companies.
In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit the platform.
Doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. It is not what America stands for.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 19, 2024