US House passes bill that could lead to total TikTok ban

The House of Representatives voted 360 to 58 on the updated divest-or-ban bill that could lead to the first time ever that the US government has passed a law to shut down an entire social media platform.

The Senate is expected to vote on the bill next week and Joe Biden has said he will sign the legislation.

“This bill protects Americans and especially America’s children from the malign influence of Chinese propaganda on the app TikTok. This app is a spy balloon in Americans’ phones,” said Texas Republican representative Michael McCaul, author of the bill, Bloomberg reports.

The updated TikTok bill comes as part of House Republican speaker Mike Johnson’s foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

The passage of the updated version of the bill came after Maria Cantwell, the Senate commerce committee chair, urged the House in March to revise the bill’s details, which now extends TikTok’s parent company ByteDance’s divestment period from six months to a year.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Cantwell said: “As I’ve said, extending the divestment period is necessary to ensure there is enough time for a new buyer to get a deal done. I support this updated legislation.”

Critics of the popular social media app argue that ByteDance, which is based in China, could collect user data and censor content that is critical of the Chinese government. In March, Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, warned in a House intelligence committee hearing that China could use TikTok to influence the US’s 2024 presidential elections.

Meanwhile, TikTok has repeatedly said that it has not and would not share US user data with the Chinese government. “TikTok is an independent platform, with its own leadership team, including a CEO