With US States like Montana and New York already implementing policies on banning TikTok, a new bill that US Congress passed might ban TikTok across the entire US. With the passing of the bill, TikTok parent company ByteDance has five months to separate itself from the popular social media platform or app stores in the US that will completely ban TikTok from being hosted on other platforms.
With the US Congress voting 352 to 65 in favor of the bill, lawmakers have supported the bill because they insist that TikTok is a national security threat, as the Chinese government could allegedly use its intelligence laws against TikTok to force it to hand over data from US users.
US President Joe Biden has promised to sign the bill as soon as it lands on its desk, which can potentially result into a diplomatic dispute with China.Â
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TikTok has repeatedly called out US Congress on the ban, adding that it is an attack on its users’ right to freedom of expression. Even China’s foreign ministry calls the bill “an act of bullying” according to a report by CNN. Currently, TikTok has 170 million users in the US.
Previous investigations by the Wall Street Journal in January revealed that TikTok’s data in the US is unofficially shared to ByteDance in China, and that there were high profile cases that include ByteDance employees in China accessing a journalist’s data to track down sources.
