The US House will vote on the TikTok crackdown; fate is uncertain in the Senate

Washington, March 12 (Reuters) The United States House of Representatives will vote on a bill on Wednesday that would give TikTok\’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, about six months to divest. A short-video application used by nearly 170 million Americans may be banned.

The vote is scheduled for around 10 a.m. under fast-track procedures, which require two-thirds of House members to endorse the proposal for passage.

The vote comes barely over a week after the bill was introduced and follows one public hearing with little debate. The House Energy and Commerce Committee backed the bill 50-0 last Monday, opening the path for a full House vote.

On Tuesday, the FBI, Justice Department, and Office of the Chief of National Intelligence held a classified briefing, which opened a new tab for House members.

\”We\’ve answered several questions from members. We had a secret briefing today. So that members may learn more specifics about what\’s at stake and how the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) can endanger American families,\” said House majority leader Steve Scalise.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will visit Capitol Hill on Wednesday for a previously scheduled meeting with senators, according to a source familiar with the subject.
\”This law has a predetermined outcome: a total shutdown of TikTok in the US,\” the firm stated in a statement. \”The US government is attempting to destroy 170 million Americans\’ constitutional right to free speech,\” the statement read.

Several opponents of the legislation, including Democratic Representative Maxwell Frost, believe it will pass in the House. Frost stated that many lawmakers who will vote for the bill are driven by a desire to safeguard users, which he shares. Frost was one of four legislators from the 432-member House who held a press conference against the bill.

The issue is the process here, the fact that it\’s been steamrolled and people struggle with the impacts,\” Frost said in a statement. \”I would like to see TikTok ownership shifted, but not at the expense of our rights as First Amendment business owners and content creators.\”
The legislation\’s fate in the United States Senate is unknown, as other senators prefer to pursue a different path.

Last Monday, President Joe Biden declared that he would sign the law.

Jake Sullivan, the White House\’s national security counsel, reiterated that the goal is to stop Chinese ownership of TikTok rather than outright ban the company. The important question is whether we want TikTok to be owned by an American corporation or by China. We also need to think about whether the data from TikTok—both adult and child data—belongs in China or America. However, it remains uncertain whether China would approve any potential sale or if ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, could divest itself within the given timeframe of six months.

To address this concern, a proposed bill would grant ByteDance 165 days to divest TikTok. Failure to comply would result in app stores operated by Apple, Google, and others being legally prohibited from offering TikTok or providing web hosting services to ByteDance-controlled applications.

It is worth noting that in 2020, former President Donald Trump attempted to ban TikTok and Chinese-owned WeChat, but his efforts were thwarted by the courts. Recently, he has expressed apprehensions regarding a potential ban.

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