Washington — President Biden stated Friday he would sign legislation that could lead to a ban of TikTok, an immensely fashionable video-sharing app that’s owned by the China-based firm ByteDance.
“In the event that they cross it, I am going to signal it,” Mr. Biden, whose 2024 marketing campaign recently joined the app, informed reporters.
The invoice, often known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, would require ByteDance to promote TikTok inside six months or be banned from U.S. app shops and web-hosting companies if it doesn’t lower ties.
It is slated to get a vote on the Home ground subsequent week, in response to Home Majority Chief Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, who known as the measure a “vital nationwide safety invoice.”
Home lawmakers have moved rapidly on the laws. It was launched on Tuesday and superior out of the Home Vitality and Commerce Committee on Thursday.
In a one-page memo to members of Congress that was obtained by CBS Information, the Justice Division laid out the hazards it says TikTok poses, together with the “super quantities of delicate information” it collects, and the potential for the Chinese language authorities to hold out an affect marketing campaign.
The Justice Division stated the laws can be on extra secure authorized floor if it gave the federal government the authority to drive ByteDance to divest from TikTok, reasonably than to impose an outright ban on the app if ByteDance does not promote.
Earlier this week, White Home press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre advised the laws could not but stand as much as authorized scrutiny.
“As soon as it will get to a spot the place we predict … it is on authorized standing, and it is in a spot the place it will probably get out of Congress, then the president would signal it. However we have to proceed to work on it,” she stated throughout Wednesday’s press briefing.
Nationwide safety officers and lawmakers have warned of the potential dangers the app poses for years, saying it may very well be utilized by the Chinese language authorities to spy on People or unfold misinformation or propaganda.
TikTok unleashed a flood of calls to lawmakers on Thursday after it urged customers to contact their representatives to inform them to vote in opposition to the invoice. “Cease a TikTok shutdown,” a discover despatched to customers within the app stated.
It despatched another notice Friday that stated, “The U.S. Home of Representatives will vote on a TikTok ban. This implies your content material, your proper to precise your self and your earnings will likely be shut down, too.”
TikTok has had quicker consumer development in recent times in comparison with different social media platforms, in response to a Pew Research Center survey carried out final yr. The research stated a few third of U.S. adults use the app, however different platforms, together with YouTube, Fb and Instagram, have been extra dominant.
Discussion about this post