Could TikTok end up banned in the US? What would need to happen?

This week, two bills were introduced in the House of Representatives that could lead to banning TikTok. The social media platform that has taken much of the world by storm is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company, which makes it a constant target in Washington. Lawmakers are hoping to force Byte Dance to sell TikTok US, and they may be able to achieve that outcome should the legislation move forward in Congress.

A group of legislators has proposed a bill that would force ByteDance to sell TikTok within five months. If the bill is passed, TikTok could be blocked from US application stores and web hosting platforms if it remains part of the Chinese company.

The proposed bill is titled “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” and it was introduced by GOP Congressman Mike Gallagher, who serves as the chairman of the chamber’s China Committee, along with seventeen other members. The bill has nineteen co-sponsors who argued that a foreign adversary controls TikTok US and threatens national security. Gallagher has warned TikTok to break ties with the Chinese Communist Party or risk losing access to users in the United States. If passed, the bill would require ByteDance to sell the app within 165 days to avoid a ban.

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How has TikTok US responded to the bill?

TikTok has strongly opposed the bill, stating that it is a complete ban on the app, regardless of any disguises. In a statement, a TikTok spokesperson raised concerns that this legislation would infringe on the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on for growth and job creation. The bill would also require TikTok and other apps to provide users with a copy of their data that can be imported into competing apps, and it would enable the banning of other apps considered a threat to national security by Joe Biden and the United States as they are “controlled by foreign adversaries.”