TikTok Bill Clears Committee Hurdle With Unanimous Vote As

Quote:

Jason Cohen on March 7, 2024

House lawmakers on Thursday unanimously voted in favor of a bill forcing Beijing-based ByteDance to sell TikTok in order for it to continue operating in the United States, CNN reported.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced the “Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” which would give ByteDance about five months to sell TikTok, according to CNN. TikTok opposes the bill, calling it an “outright ban,” and prompted its users, including children, to contact congressional officials to express their opposition to the legislation.

“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,” the company posted on X Tuesday, when bipartisan lawmakers unveiled the bill.

Technology experts who believe the TikTok’s Chinese ownership is a significant threat cheered on the legislation on Tuesday.

“TikTok’s unchecked growth and infiltration into the fabric of our society will only make it more difficult to extricate ourselves and our children from its grip. We must confront this crisis head-on and immediately prohibit TikTok from operating in the United States,” Heritage Foundation Tech Policy Center Director Kara Frederick stated. “The [bill] is a crucial step forward in this fight and will be a powerful tool in our arsenal to put an end to this noxious, CCP-beholden surveillance platform once and for all.”

The bill would also provide the president authority to force other firms to divest from their parent companies if they are based in countries that are considered foreign adversaries, according to a press release.

The Biden administration previously advocated for TikTok to divest from ByteDance or face a possible prohibition in the United States, but the administration reportedly backed off from it in September.

The White House has indicated support for the bill.

“This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States. The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression,” a TikTok spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “This will damage millions of businesses, deny artists an audience, and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country.”

ByteDance did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.