House passes bill that could see TikTok banned in US

The House of Representatives has passed a bill that could pave the way for TikTok to be banned in U.S. app stores.

Both Democrats and Republicans supported the measure, which advanced out of committee in a unanimous 50-0 bipartisan vote. It’s a rare show of bipartisan unity in a heavily fractured political environment.

The bill, led by House China select committee Chair Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and ranking member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., would block TikTok in the U.S. if its parent company, Bytedance, does not divest from it within 165 days of passage. It would also require it to be bought by a country that is not a U.S. adversary.

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It’s not immediately clear if the Senate will take up the legislation.

TikTok’s critics have long called it a national security threat. They’ve cited concerns about the Chinese government’s ability to leverage its power over Bytedance to access sensitive user data, even in the U.S., something the company has denied. 

China hawks have also warned that the app’s popularity among young Americans gives the ruling Chinese Communist Party a platform for mass influence campaign.

At the same time, lawmakers who are wary of the push to curb TikTok have cited First Amendment concerns and potential harm to small businesses who rely on it.

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Others have expressed concerns that the bill itself specifically names TikTok and Bytedance, though it would also more broadly apply to companies linked to a hostile foreign power.

Opponents of the bill, including young people and activists, have also deluged Congress with phone calls and messages urging them not to restrict TikTok. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, one of the bill’s lead co-sponsors, told Fox News Digital last week that lawmakers’ offices were even fielding calls with people threatening suicide.

“TikTok fires everybody up and then our offices are getting called with thousands of people calling up. Some kid called in, said they were gonna commit suicide. We have people calling in saying, ‘I’m on this all day long, every day. You can’t take this away from me,’” Roy said at the time. “It’s like we called into an AA meeting.”

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Supporters of the bill, like former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have repeatedly insisted that the bill is not aimed at banning TikTok but rather diminishing the threat it poses with its links to China.

“We’re not there to ban TikTok,” she said in a press conference. “Let’s do something better than TikTok, because it does not have its algorithm controlled by Bytedance, which is beholden to the Chinese government.”

The bill is also backed by every member of House GOP leadership.