House vote has approved a prospective ban on TikTok in the United States, but the app won’t be going away anytime soon.
Washington (AP) – Congress enacted a measure on Saturday that states TikTok will be prohibited in the US if the popular social media site, which is owned by China, does not sell its ownership within a year. Don’t worry too much, though, about the app closing down quickly.
The prohibition gained steam after a previous version stalled in the Senate, thanks to the decision by House Republicans to include TikTok as part of a larger foreign aid package, as well as broad bipartisan support for Ukraine and Israel in Congress. Due to concerns made by both Democrats and Republicans over national security regarding the Chinese internet company ByteDance Limited, the owner of TikTok, a stand-alone bill with a six-month sales deadline was enacted in the House in March with a sizable bipartisan vote.
After negotiations that resulted in an extension of the company’s sales deadline to nine months, with the possibility of an extra three months if sales continue, the revised proposal was passed by a vote of 360-58 and now goes to the Senate.
The timeline might be further extended by legal challenges. The business has made hints that, should the law pass, it will probably attempt to overturn it in court, claiming that millions of TikTok users would lose their First Amendment rights.
Strong opposition to the law has been expressed by TikTok’s 170 million American users, many of them are young people, who have taken to protesting and voicing their disapproval to Congress. However, the contentious discussion has infuriated politicians on Capitol Hill, where some of them use the platform themselves and where there are general worries about Chinese threats to the United States.
In a video addressed to the app’s users that was published on the platform last month, TikTok CEO Shô Zee Chu declared, “We won’t stop fighting and advocating for you.” “We will continue to use our legal rights to protect this amazing platform we’ve built together.”
The law targets a firm, and Congress has always taken a practical approach to tech regulation, so its quick passage through Congress is noteworthy. Legislative initiatives to address issues like children’s internet safety, user privacy, and making corporations more responsible for content put on their platforms have not succeeded. However, the TikTok ban brings to light the parliamentarians’ general worries about China.
Both sides’ members and intelligence officials are worried that Chinese authorities would force ByteDance to give up user data from American users or order the company to censor or encourage content that serves their interests. Disputed by TikTok, which maintains that it has not given Chinese authorities access to user data from American users, the company says it might be utilized as a tool of the Chinese government.
The Chinese government has not been shown any proof by the U.S. authorities that TikTok has exchanged user data from American users with them or altered the popular algorithms that determine what Americans watch.
The company’s activities in America have had some success in prior legal challenges, so it has solid grounds to think that the legal case could prevail. After TikTok filed a lawsuit in November, claiming that the law violated its right to free speech and due process, a federal court in Montana rejected a bill that would have prohibited the app’s use throughout the state. A contract negotiated by their administration would give Walmart and Oracle, two American corporations, a sizable ownership share in TikTok. A number of obstacles hindered the deal from ever occurring, including China’s stringent export regulations placed on its technology suppliers.
TikTok is already prohibited from being used on official devices by numerous state and federal administrations. The Columbia University-based Knight First Amendment Institute filed a lawsuit last year to contest Texas’ restriction, claiming that the policy’s expansion to public universities was impeding academic freedom. The state’s case was heard by a federal judge in December.
The software has been endorsed by groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union. “Congress cannot strip the rights of more than 170 million Americans who use TikTok to express themselves, engage in political advocacy, and access information from around the world,” stated Jenna Leventoff, a lawyer for the group.
TikTok has reportedly spent $5 million on TV commercials against the law since mid-March, according to advertising analytics company AdImpact. The advertisements include multiple content creators, among them a nun, who extol the virtues of the site and contend that prohibiting it would be a violation of the First Amendment. Additionally, the business has urged people to get in touch with Congress, and some congressmen have received calls filled with obscenities. “It’s unfortunate that Congress is once again passing a ban bill in the shadow of significant foreign and humanitarian aid that will crush the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shut down a platform that contributes $24 billion annually to the U.S. economy, Alex Hauer, a spokesperson for the company, said.
Democrat Representative Ro Khanna of California voted against the bill. He feels that there might have been less onerous ways to take action against the corporation that would not have jeopardized free speech or resulted in a partial ban.
A House vote has approved a prospective ban on TikTok in the United States, but the app won’t be going away anytime soon.
Washington (AP) – Congress enacted a measure on Saturday that states TikTok will be prohibited in the US if the popular social media site, which is owned by China, does not sell its ownership within a year. Don’t worry too much, though, about the app closing down quickly.
The prohibition gained steam after a previous version stalled in the Senate, thanks to the decision by House Republicans to include TikTok as part of a larger foreign aid package, as well as broad bipartisan support for Ukraine and Israel in Congress. Due to concerns made by both Democrats and Republicans over national security regarding the Chinese internet company ByteDance Limited, the owner of TikTok, a stand-alone bill with a six-month sales deadline was enacted in the House in March with a sizable bipartisan vote.
After negotiations that resulted in an extension of the company’s sales deadline to nine months, with the possibility of an extra three months if sales continue, the revised proposal was passed by a vote of 360-58 and now goes to the Senate.
The timeline might be further extended by legal challenges. The business has made hints that, should the law pass, it will probably attempt to overturn it in court, claiming that millions of TikTok users would lose their First Amendment rights.
Strong opposition to the law has been expressed by TikTok’s 170 million American users, many of them are young people, who have taken to protesting and voicing their disapproval to Congress. However, the contentious discussion has infuriated politicians on Capitol Hill, where some of them use the platform themselves and where there are general worries about Chinese threats to the United States.
In a video addressed to the app’s users that was published on the platform last month, TikTok CEO Shô Zee Chu declared, “We won’t stop fighting and advocating for you.” “We will continue to use our legal rights to protect this amazing platform we’ve built together.”
The law targets a firm, and Congress has always taken a practical approach to tech regulation, so its quick passage through Congress is noteworthy. Legislative initiatives to address issues like children’s internet safety, user privacy, and making corporations more responsible for content put on their platforms have not succeeded. However, the TikTok ban brings to light the parliamentarians’ general worries about China.
Both sides’ members and intelligence officials are worried that Chinese authorities would force ByteDance to give up user data from American users or order the company to censor or encourage content that serves their interests. Disputed by TikTok, which maintains that it has not given Chinese authorities access to user data from American users, the company says it might be utilized as a tool of the Chinese government.
The Chinese government has not been shown any proof by the U.S. authorities that TikTok has exchanged user data from American users with them or altered the popular algorithms that determine what Americans watch.
The company’s activities in America have had some success in prior legal challenges, so it has solid grounds to think that the legal case could prevail. After TikTok filed a lawsuit in November, claiming that the law violated its right to free speech and due process, a federal court in Montana rejected a bill that would have prohibited the app’s use throughout the state. A contract negotiated by their administration would give Walmart and Oracle, two American corporations, a sizable ownership share in TikTok. A number of obstacles hindered the deal from ever occurring, including China’s stringent export regulations placed on its technology suppliers.
TikTok is already prohibited from being used on official devices by numerous state and federal administrations. The Columbia University-based Knight First Amendment Institute filed a lawsuit last year to contest Texas’ restriction, claiming that the policy’s expansion to public universities was impeding academic freedom. The state’s case was heard by a federal judge in December.
The software has been endorsed by groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union. “Congress cannot strip the rights of more than 170 million Americans who use TikTok to express themselves, engage in political advocacy, and access information from around the world,” stated Jenna Leventoff, a lawyer for the group.
TikTok has reportedly spent $5 million on TV commercials against the law since mid-March, according to advertising analytics company AdImpact. The advertisements include multiple content creators, among them a nun, who extol the virtues of the site and contend that prohibiting it would be a violation of the First Amendment. Additionally, the business has urged people to get in touch with Congress, and some congressmen have received calls filled with obscenities. “It’s unfortunate that Congress is once again passing a ban bill in the shadow of significant foreign and humanitarian aid that will crush the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shut down a platform that contributes $24 billion annually to the U.S. economy, Alex Hauer, a spokesperson for the company, said.
Democrat Representative Ro Khanna of California voted against the bill. He feels that there might have been less onerous ways to take action against the corporation that would not have jeopardized free speech or resulted in a partial ban.
Khanna expressed his doubts about the reception of the proposal. “It signals that Beltway is out of touch with the places where voters are. Nadya Okamoto, a TikTok video creator with almost 4 million followers, said she has been speaking with other creators who are feeling a lot of anger and concern” about the bill and its potential effects on their life. The 26-year-old gets the majority of her money from TikTok, where her business promotes menstrual equity and sells August menstruation items.
Khanna expressed his doubts about the reception of the proposal. “It signals that Beltway is out of touch with the places where voters are. Nadya Okamoto, a TikTok video creator with almost 4 million followers, said she has been speaking with other creators who are feeling a lot of anger and concern” about the bill and its potential effects on their life. The 26-year-old gets the majority of her money from TikTok, where her business promotes menstrual equity and sells August menstruation items.
