UPDATE: 3/14/24 2:51 A.M.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill on Wednesday that would give TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the U.S. assets of the short-video app, or face a ban, in the greatest threat to the app since the Trump administration.
The bill passed 352-65 in a bipartisan vote, but it faces a more uncertain path in the Senate where some favor a different approach to regulating foreign-owned apps posing security concerns. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate will review the legislation.
The measure is the latest in a series of moves in Washington to respond to U.S. national security concerns about China, from connected vehicles to advanced artificial intelligence chips to cranes at U.S. ports.
“This is a critical national security issue. The Senate must take this up and pass it,” No. 2 House Republican Steve Scalise said of TikTok on social media platform X. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre added later that the Biden administration also wanted to see “the Senate take swift action.”
The fate of TikTok, used by about 170 million Americans, has become a major issue in Washington where lawmakers have complained their offices have been flooded with calls from TikTok users who oppose the legislation.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, who a source briefed on the matter said is visiting Washington this week, said in a video posted after the vote the legislation if signed into law “will lead to a ban on TikTok in the United States… and would take billions of dollars out of the pockets of creators and small businesses.”
He added the company will exercise its legal rights to prevent a ban. The bill gives the company 165 days to file a legal challenge after it is signed by President Joe Biden, who said last week he would do so.
The political climate in Washington, at a time when many politicians do not want to be seen as soft on China during an election year, increasingly favors the bill. Still, there are concerns about the impact of any ban on younger voters.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday asked “Do we want TikTok, as a platform, to be owned by an American company or owned by China? Do we want the data from TikTok – children’s data, adults’ data – to be going, to be staying here in America or going to China?”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has criticized the legislation, arguing “though the U.S. has never found any evidence of TikTok posing a threat to the U.S.’s national security, it has never stopped going after TikTok.”
PROMINENT DEMOCRATS QUESTION BILL
A number of prominent Democrats in the House voted against the bill including House Democratic Whip Kathleen Clark, Arizona Senate candidate Ruben Gallego, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as well as the top Democrats on the Judiciary, Ways and Means, Transportation and Intelligence committees.
“There are serious antitrust and privacy questions here, and any national security concerns should be laid out to the public prior to a vote,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell, who will play an important role in the Senate’s next move, said she wants legislation “that could hold up in court,” and is considering a separate bill, but is not sure what her next step is.
The vote came just over a week after the bill was proposed following one public hearing with little debate, and followed action in Congress stalling for more than a year. Last month, Biden’s re-election campaign joined TikTok, raising hopes among company officials that legislation was unlikely this year.
Several dozen TikTok users rallied outside the Capitol before the vote. The company paid for their travel to Washington and their accommodation, a TikTok spokesperson said.
The group included Mona Swain, 23, who said she had joined TikTok in 2019, during her freshman year at college pursuing musical theater. Now a full-time content creator, she said she was paying her mother’s mortgage and for her brother and sister’s college educations with her earnings from the app.
“It’s gonna put a lot of people out of work, which is the scariest part,” Swain said of the bill.
UNCERTAINTY OVER SALE It is unclear whether China would approve any sale or if TikTok’s U.S. assets could be divested in six months. If ByteDance failed to do so, app stores operated by Apple, Alphabet’s Google and others could not legally offer TikTok or provide web hosting services to ByteDance-controlled applications. In 2020, then-President Donald Trump sought to ban TikTok and Chinese-owned WeChat but was blocked by the courts. In recent days he had raised concerns about a ban but nearly all House Republicans shrugged those off.
It is unclear if Tencent’s WeChat or other high-profile Chinese-owned apps could face a ban under the legislation.
Beyond the likely legal challenge from TikTok, the American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups are arguing the bill is unconstitutional on free speech and other grounds.
In November, a U.S. judge blocked a Montana state ban on TikTok use after the company sued.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Additional reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Chris Sanders, Stephen Coates and Jamie Freed)
UPDATE: 10:08 A.M.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill on Wednesday that would give TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the U.S. assets of the short-video app used by about 170 million Americans or face a ban.
The bill passed 352-65, with bipartisan support, but it faces a more uncertain path in the Senate where some favor a different approach to regulating foreign-owned apps that could pose security concerns. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not indicated how he plans to proceed.
TikTok’s fate has become a major issue in Washington. Democratic and Republican lawmakers said their offices had received large volumes of calls from teenaged TikTok users who oppose the legislation, with the volume of complaints at times exceeding the number of calls seeking a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The measure is the latest in a series of moves in Washington to respond to U.S. national security concerns about China, from connected vehicles to advanced artificial intelligence chips to cranes at U.S. ports.
“This is a critical national security issue. The Senate must take this up and pass it,” No. 2 House Republican Steve Scalise said on social media platform X.
Shortly after passage, a bipartisan pair of senators, Democrat Mark Warner and Republican Marco Rubio, issued a joint statement saying they were encouraged by the bipartisan support for the bill and that they “look forward to working together to get this bill passed through the Senate and signed into law.”
The vote comes just over a week since the bill was proposed following one public hearing with little debate, and after action in Congress had stalled for more than a year. Last month, President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign joined TikTok, raising hopes among TikTok officials that legislation was unlikely this year.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee last week voted 50-0 in favor of the bill, setting it up for a vote before the full House.
TIKTOK CEO GOES TO WASHINGTON
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will visit Capitol Hill on Wednesday on a previously scheduled trip to talk to senators, a source briefed on the matter said. “This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States,” the company said before the vote. “The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression,” it added. Biden said last week that he would sign the bill. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday the goal was ending Chinese ownership, not banning TikTok. “Do we want TikTok, as a platform, to be owned by an American company or owned by China? Do we want the data from TikTok – children’s data, adults’ data – to be going, to be staying here in America or going to China?” he said. It is unclear whether China would approve any sale or if TikTok’s U.S. assets could be divested in six months. If ByteDance failed to do so, app stores operated by Apple, Alphabet’s Google and others could not legally offer TikTok or provide web hosting services to ByteDance-controlled applications. In 2020, then-President Donald Trump sought to ban TikTok and Chinese-owned WeChat but was blocked by the courts. In recent days he had raised concerns about a ban. It remains unclear if Tencent’s WeChat or other high-profile Chinese-owned apps could face a ban under the legislation. Any forced TikTok divestment from the U.S. would almost certainly face legal challenges, which the company would need to file within 165 days of the bill being signed by the president. In November, a U.S. judge blocked a Montana state ban on TikTok use after the company sued.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Sanders, Jamie Freed and Nick Zieminski)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote on a bill on Wednesday that would give TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the U.S. assets of the short-video app used by about 170 million Americans or face a ban.
The vote is expected around 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) under fast-track rules that require support by two-thirds of House members for the measure to pass. It is widely expected to pass, according to both proponents and opponents.
The vote comes just over a week since the bill was proposed following one public hearing with little debate, and after action in Congress had stalled for more than a year. Last month, President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign joined TikTok, raising hopes among Tiktok officials that legislation was unlikely this year.
The measure is the latest in a series of moves in Washington to respond to U.S. national security concerns about China, from connected vehicles to advanced artificial intelligence chips to cranes at U.S. ports.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee last week voted 50-0 in favor of the bill, setting it up for a vote before the full House.
But the bill faces a more uncertain path in the U.S. Senate where some senators favor a different approach to regulating foreign-owned apps that could pose security concerns. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not indicated how he plans to proceed.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will visit Capitol Hill on Wednesday on a previously scheduled trip to talk to senators, a source briefed on the matter said.
“This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States,” the company said. “The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression,” it added.
Biden said last week that he would sign the bill.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday the goal was ending Chinese ownership, not banning TikTok.
“Do we want TikTok, as a platform, to be owned by an American company or owned by China? Do we want the data from TikTok – children’s data, adults’ data – to be going, to be staying here in America or going to China?” he said.
It is unclear whether China would approve any sale or if TikTok’s U.S. assets could be divested in six months.
If ByteDance failed to do so, app stores operated by Apple, Alphabet’s Google and others could not legally offer TikTok or provide web hosting services to ByteDance-controlled applications.
In 2020, then-President Donald Trump sought to ban TikTok and Chinese-owned WeChat but was blocked by the courts. In recent days he had raised concerns about a ban. It remains unclear if Tencent’s WeChat or other high-profile Chinese-owned apps could face a ban under the legislation.
Any forced TikTok divestment from the U.S. would almost certainly face legal challenges, which the company would need to file within 165 days of the bill being signed by the president. In November, a U.S. judge blocked a Montana state ban on TikTok use after the company sued.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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