AMN
The House of Representatives has passed legislation that would ban TikTok in the United States if the popular social media platform’s China-based owner does not sell its stake within a year.
The decision by House Republicans yesterday to include TikTok as part of a larger foreign aid package fast-tracked the ban after an earlier version had stalled in the Senate.
A standalone bill with a shorter, six-month selling deadline passed the House in March by an overwhelming bipartisan vote as both Democrats and Republicans voiced national security concerns about the app’s owner, the Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd. The modified measure, passed by a 360-58 vote, now goes to the Senate after negotiations that lengthened the timeline for the company to sell to nine months, with a possible additional three months if a sale is in progress. Legal challenges could extend that timeline even further. The company has indicated that it would likely go to court to try and block the law if it passes, arguing it would deprive the app’s millions of users of their First Amendment rights.