The Lower House on Wednesday approved a bill that would lead to a nationwide ban on the popular video app TikTok if its China-based owner does not sell it.
Lawmakers from both parties acted on concerns that the company’s current ownership structure is a threat to national security.
The bill, approved by 352 votes in favor and 65 against, now goes to the Senate, where its prospects are unclear.
TikTok, which has more than 150 million users in the United States, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd.
Lawmakers maintain that ByteDance is beholden to the Chinese government, which could demand access to TikTok’s U.S. consumer data any time it wants.
The concern arises from a set of Chinese national security laws that require organizations to assist in intelligence gathering.
“We have given TikTok a clear choice,” said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. “Separate from its parent company ByteDance, which is beholden to the CCP (the Chinese Communist Party), and remain operational in the United States, or side with the CCP and face the consequences. The choice is TikTok.”
Passage of the bill in the House is only the first step. The Senate would also need to approve the measure for it to become law, and lawmakers in that chamber indicated it would undergo extensive review. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he will have to consult with relevant committee chairmen to determine the direction of the bill.
President Joe Biden has said that if Congress approves the measure, he will sign it.
The House vote is poised to open a new front in the long-running dispute between lawmakers and the tech industry. Members of Congress have long criticized tech platforms and their expansive influence, often clashing with executives over industry practices. But by targeting TikTok, lawmakers are singling out a platform popular with millions of people, many of whom are younger, just months before an election.
Opposition to the bill was also bipartisan. Some Republicans said the United States should warn consumers if there are concerns about data privacy and advertising, while some Democrats expressed concern about the impact a ban would have on its millions of users in the United States, many of whom which are entrepreneurs and business owners.
“The answer to authoritarianism is not more authoritarianism,” said Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif. “The answer to CCP-style propaganda is not CCP-style oppression. Let’s slow down before we go down this steep and slippery slope.”
Ahead of the House vote, a top Biden administration national security official held a closed-door briefing with lawmakers on Tuesday to discuss TikTok and the national security implications. Lawmakers are weighing those security concerns with the desire not to limit free speech online.
“What we’ve tried to do here is be very thoughtful and deliberate about the need to force a sale of TikTok without giving any authority to the executive branch to regulate content or go after any American company,” said Rep. Mike Gallagher, the author. of the bill, when he left the briefing.
TikTok has long denied that it could be used as a tool of the Chinese government. The company has said it has never shared US user data with Chinese authorities and will not do so if requested. To date, the US government has also not provided any evidence showing that TikTok shared such information with Chinese authorities. The platform has around 170 million users in the US.
Senators are open to the bill but suggested they don’t want to rush it.
“It’s not a redeeming quality to me that you’re moving very quickly in technology because history shows that a lot of mistakes are made,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
By pushing the legislation, House Republicans are also creating a rare daylight between themselves and former President Donald Trump, who is seeking another term in the White House.
Trump has expressed opposition to the effort. He said Monday that he still believes TikTok poses a national security risk, but opposes banning the hugely popular app because doing so would help his rival, Facebook, which he continues to criticize for its 2020 election loss.
As president, Trump attempted to ban TikTok through an executive order that called “the dissemination in the United States of mobile applications developed and owned by companies from the People’s Republic of China (China)” as a threat to “national security, foreign policy, and the economy.” from United States”. However, courts blocked the action after TikTok filed a lawsuit, arguing that such actions would violate free speech and due process rights.
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