Social Media
TikTok could disappear from the US in 5 months because of a bill
The popular social network of Chinese origin and the doubts it raises in the US government.
TikTok, the popular social network, may be in jeopardy again in the U.S. The reason? ByteDance, a Chinese company whose products include TikTok, would have to sell the short-video application to remain active in the United States. A group of lawmakers has announced a bill that, if passed, would force ByteDance to sell its social network within five months. If ultimately approved, the application, if it remains part of the Chinese company, would be blocked from app stores and web hosting platforms in the United States.
“Legislation to Protect Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications” is the name of the bill introduced by Mike Gallagher, the Republican chairman of the House China Committee, along with Raja Krishnamoorthi (another House member) and 17 other lawmakers. They define TikTok as a social network controlled by a foreign adversary that poses a threat to national security: “This is my message to TikTok: break with the Chinese Communist Party or lose access to your American users,” Gallagher said.
TikTok and its problem with the United States
The debate about TikTok in the United States is nothing new. If the bill presented by Mike Gallagher is passed, the company ByteDance will have 165 days to sell the application and avoid the ban.
The Chinese social network is not happy about the bill, saying that “this bill is an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors try to disguise it. This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement.
The bill also seeks to require TikTok and other apps to provide users with a copy of their data that can be imported into competing apps. In addition, it will also seek to make it easier to ban other apps that Joe Biden and the United States deem a threat to national security by being “controlled by foreign adversaries.”