House Passes Bill That Could Block TikTok In The U.S.

WASHINGTON ― The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would force ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, to sell the popular app or see it banned in the U.S.

The legislation sailed through the House by an overwhelming bipartisan margin, with a 352-65 vote, due to concerns about national security and data privacy. But the bill’s fate is uncertain in the Senate, where it faces bipartisan opposition.

“TikTok is a threat to our national security because it is owned by a company which does the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party,” bill sponsor Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) said before the vote. “This bill therefore forces TikTok to break up with the Chinese Communist Party. It does not apply to American companies. It only applies to companies subject to the control of foreign adversaries defined by Congress.”

The bill aims to outlaw the distribution of “foreign adversary controlled applications, such as TikTok and any successor application or service and any other application or service developed or provided by ByteDance Ltd. or an entity under the control of ByteDance Ltd.”

TikTok is used by more than 170 million Americans, including many children and teens. Over the past few days, congressional offices were flooded with calls after the app sent a pop-up message to users urging them to tell their representatives in Congress to oppose the bill.

Advocates of the legislation worry the app can be easily manipulated by Beijing to spread propaganda in the U.S. and influence elections. TikTok and critics of the bill, however, argued it would stifle creators and their free speech.

Rep. Thomas Massie, a libertarian-leaning Republican from Kentucky, spoke out against the legislation ahead of the