The United States House of Representatives has passed legislation mandating TikTok’s parent company to sell the platform, amidst concerns that the Chinese Communist Party is using user data. Failure to comply with this requirement will lead to a ban on TikTok in the country. This puts TikTok in a vulnerable position, forcing Chinese company ByteDance to abandon the popular short video app within nine months. President Biden has the option to extend this sales period for another year if necessary.
The bill was introduced by Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi and received bipartisan support. The measure aims to protect US national security by severing ties between TikTok and its Chinese parent company. However, there are concerns about the potential violation of freedom of expression and privacy rights of users. TikTok has expressed opposition to the ban, citing concerns about the impact on its 170 million US users.
The US intelligence community has accused China of using TikTok to influence the election and warned of further meddling efforts. There are fears that user data could potentially give the Chinese government access to sensitive information about US citizens and businesses. The new measure is seen as a way to prevent such a situation from happening again in the future.
While some see this move as necessary for national security, others fear that it could have unintended consequences, such as limiting free speech and privacy rights online. It remains to be seen how this legislation will be enforced and what impact it will have on social media platforms in general.