TikTok on the brink: US Congress moves to ban or force sale

The United States House of Representatives, one of the two chambers of the US Congress, voted on April 19th on a bill to prohibit the popular TikTok app in the USA. This bill, currently progressing through the legislative process, emerges from worries over the security of American users' data and concerns regarding the possible handover of this data to Chinese authorities. President Joe Biden, the nation's leader, has indicated his intent to sign this bill lawfully.

It's important to note that the United States Congress, the country's supreme legislative body, is drafting a bill that would compel Chinese technology giant ByteDance to divest its American operations to a party unaffiliated with the government of the People's Republic of China. This move stems from anxieties about safeguarding American data and fears of its distribution to Chinese officials.

In mid-March, the House of Representatives passed a bill popularly referred to in the press as "Sell or Ban." According to this bill's terms, ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, must divest its app within nine months, though the president may extend this timeframe to one year. Should the company fail to meet these criteria, application marketplaces such as Google Play or the Apple App Store will be required to eliminate TikTok from their platforms.

On the day of the vote, besides discussing the potential prohibition of TikTok in the USA, the House also considered legislation for seizing Russian assets and a foreign aid package directed at Taiwan and countries in the Indo-Pacific region, totalling roughly £6 billion. Additionally, on the same date, they endorsed an aid package valued at approximately £47 billion for Ukraine.

The United States Senate, the other chamber of Congress, is expected to approve these bills shortly. President Joe Biden has pledged to ratify them. For TikTok, this could terminate its operations in the US unless it opts to sell its American segment.

In March, Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House from the Republican Party, voiced his concern by stating: "Communist China is America's foremost geopolitical adversary, and it is leveraging technology to weaken the American economy and security actively."

American intelligence agencies have also issued warnings about TikTok. FBI Director Christopher Wray emphasized that the app represents a national security risk. He explained that due to the virtually non-existent separation between business and government in the People's Republic of China, Chinese authorities might gain access to sensitive data belonging to American users, manipulate the app's recommendation algorithm for influence operations, and potentially monitor devices installed on the app.