US House of Representatives Passes Bill to Ban TikTok
On March 13th, 2024, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that would ban the short-video content app TikTok. The bill was passed after a week of being approved in a bipartisan vote, 352-65. The bill demands that Chinese owner ByteDance divest the US assets of the app within six months, or else it will be banned on all app stores.
Source: Squarespace/ Unsplash
why the ban?
The first attempt to ban TikTik was in 2020, by former president Donald Trump. Now, Trump is concerned that if TikTok is banned, Meta—the parent company of Facebook—will become stronger. But President Biden stated that he would sign the bill if it passed, despite creating a TikTok account as part of his election campaign in February.
The House wants to ban the app because they believe it is a national security risk. The act, called “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” would prevent ByteDance from leaking US user data to the Chinese government. In addition to this, US lawmakers claim that the app has ties with the Chinese Communist Party, which TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has denied.
The bill is awaiting Senate approval. If it passes in the Senate, creators and small businesses who use the app to generate revenue and brand exposure will take massive hits.
Source: Squarespace/ Unsplash
opposition to the bill
Some democrats are questioning the bill, including House member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She states that the bill raises questions of privacy and antitrust, and if there’s a national security risk, it should be stated before the public. TikTok users have also expressed their opposition to the bill. Before the vote, some joined forces and rallied outside of the Capitol.
In addition to this, there are many advocacy groups that oppose the bill and declare it unconstitutional. Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Knight Institute created and signed a petition arguing against the bill. In the petition, they state that the banning of TikTok would give the President the power to ban other social media apps.
They also argue that the banning of TikTok is a form of censorship, because it censors Americans from “Chinese government acquisition.” Lastly, they state that the bill violates free speech, since many Americans express their opinions and views on the app, and violates freedom of expression, since the app was an outlet where Americans could share hobbies and art.
The groups also point out that no serious national security risk has been proven, and that banning the app would not be effective because the Chinese government could access US data in other ways. They demand that privacy legislation be instated instead.
Source: Squarespace/ Unsplash
the congressional hearing
During the congressional hearing, many important issues were discussed, and claims were refuted. According to TechTarget, the key points of discussion were addictiveness, misinformation, children’s safety, mental health, the selling of data, and data security.
To respond to concerns over addictiveness, TikTok has a feature that tells users to leave the app after 60 minutes of use. TikTok also actively removes misinformation and bans political ads. To ensure child safety, certain app features are unavailable to children under the age of 13, such as private messaging and the ability to go viral.
To address mental health concerns, TikTok does not allow content promoting substance abuse, eating disorders, or suicide. In addition to this, the app allegedly does not sell data to data brokers, and actively works to protect and organize data into sensitivity categories.
conclusion
Despite the arguments against each concern brought up in the congressional hearing, and expressed opposition by many TikTok users, advocacy groups, and political figures, it is unclear if TikTok will be banned as of right now. With the House passing the bill and President Biden agreeing to sign it, the decision is entirely up to the Senate for now. Until the Senate makes their decision, the future of TikTok in the US is unknown.
