House Approves TikTok Ban Bill Tied to Foreign Aid Package
The US House passes legislation forcing TikTok to sever ties with its Chinese parent company or face a US ban. The bill now moves to the Senate as part of a broader foreign aid package.
The US House of Representatives approves a bill that forces TikTok to separate from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or face a nationwide ban. Lawmakers pass the legislation with a strong bipartisan vote of 360-58 by attaching it to a wide-ranging foreign aid package for Ukraine and Israel. This strategic move puts immense pressure on the Senate to pass the entire package quickly without the ability to amend the TikTok provisions.
The latest version of the bill gives TikTok 270 days to find a new owner, with an additional 90-day extension available if the White House determines a sale is progressing. President Biden expresses readiness to sign the legislation if it reaches his desk, giving the bill high odds of becoming law. The fast-tracking of this measure highlights how broader policy priorities merge to create a significant threat to the popular social media app.
TikTok strongly opposes the legislation and wages an intense lobbying campaign against it. The company argues that the ban violates the First Amendment rights of its 170 million American users and threatens to devastate small businesses that rely on the platform. Despite these protests, US officials maintain that the app's Chinese ownership poses a serious national security risk to the country.