WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Wednesday handed a invoice that might result in a nationwide ban of the favored video app TikTook if its China-based proprietor doesn’t promote its stake, as lawmakers acted on considerations that the corporate’s present possession construction is a nationwide safety risk.
The invoice, handed by a vote of 352-65, now goes to the Senate, the place its prospects are unclear.
TikTook, which has greater than 150 million American customers, is an entirely owned subsidiary of Chinese expertise agency ByteDance Ltd.
The lawmakers contend that ByteDance is beholden to the Chinese authorities, which might demand access to the info of TikTook’s customers within the U.S. any time it needs. The fear stems from a set of Chinese nationwide safety legal guidelines that compel organizations to help with intelligence gathering.
“We have given TikTok a clear choice,” mentioned Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. “Separate from your parent company ByteDance, which is beholden to the CCP (the Chinese Communist Party), and remain operational in the United States, or side with the CCP and face the consequences. The choice is TikTok’s.”
House passage of the invoice is simply step one. The Senate would additionally have to move the measure for it to develop into legislation, and lawmakers in that chamber indicated it might endure a radical overview. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., mentioned he’ll need to seek the advice of with related committee chairs to find out the invoice’s path.
AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani stories a invoice that might result in a TikTook ban within the U.S. has simply handed the House — however its path ahead is unclear.
President Joe Biden has mentioned if Congress passes the measure, he’ll signal it.
The House vote is the latest instance of elevated tensions between China and the U.S. By focusing on TikTook, lawmakers are tackling what they see as a grave risk to America’s nationwide safety — but additionally singling out a platform well-liked with tens of millions of individuals, lots of whom skew younger, simply months earlier than an election.
A TikTook spokesperson, Alex Haurek, mentioned in an announcement after the vote that the invoice was jammed by as a part of a secretive course of.
“We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents, and realize the impact on the economy, 7 million small businesses, and the 170 million Americans who use our service,” Haurek mentioned.
In anticipation of the vote, a Chinese overseas ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, accused Washington of resorting to political instruments when U.S. businesses fail to compete. He mentioned the trouble would disrupt regular business operations and undermine investor confidence “and will eventually backfire on the U.S. itself.”
Overall, 197 Republican lawmakers voted for the measure and 15 in opposition to. On the Democratic aspect, 155 voted for the invoice and 50 in opposition to.
Some Republican opponents of the invoice mentioned the U.S. ought to warn customers if there are information privateness and propaganda considerations, however the remaining alternative needs to be left with customers.
“The answer to authoritarianism is not more authoritarianism,” mentioned Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif. “The answer to CCP-style propaganda is not CCP-style oppression. Let us slow down before we blunder down this very steep and slippery slope.”
“We have a national security obligation to prevent America’s most strategic adversary from being so involved in our lives.”
Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y.
Democrats additionally warned of the affect a ban would have on customers within the U.S., together with entrepreneurs and business house owners. One of the no votes got here from Rep. Jim Himes, the rating Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee.
“One of the key differences between us and those adversaries is the fact that they shut down newspapers, broadcast stations, and social media platforms. We do not,” Himes mentioned. “We trust our citizens to be worthy of their democracy. We do not trust our government to decide what information they may or may not see.”
The day earlier than the House vote, prime nationwide safety officers within the Biden administration held a closed-door briefing with lawmakers to debate TikTook and the nationwide safety implications. Lawmakers are balancing these safety considerations in opposition to a want to not restrict free speech on-line.
“What we’ve tried to do here is be very thoughtful and deliberate about the need to force a divestiture of TikTok without granting any authority to the executive branch to regulate content or go after any American company,” mentioned Rep. Mike Gallagher, the invoice’s creator, as he emerged from the briefing.
“Not a single thing that we heard in today’s classified briefing was unique to TikTok. It was things that happen on every single social media platform.”
Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif.
TikTook has lengthy denied that it might be used as a device of the Chinese authorities. The firm has mentioned it has by no means shared U.S. person information with Chinese authorities and received’t accomplish that whether it is requested. To date, the U.S. authorities additionally has not offered proof that exhibits TikTook shared such data with Chinese authorities.
Republican leaders moved rapidly to deliver up the invoice after its introduction final week by Gallagher and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill. A House committee accepted the laws unanimously, on a 50-0 vote, even after their workplaces had been inundated with calls from TikTook customers demanding they drop the trouble. Some workplaces even shut off their telephones due to the onslaught. Supporters of the invoice mentioned the trouble backfired.
“(It) provided members a preview of how the platform could be weaponized to inject disinformation into our system,” Gallagher mentioned.
Lawmakers in each events are anxious to confront China on a variety of points. The House fashioned a particular committee to concentrate on China-related points. And Schumer directed committee chairs to begin working with Republicans on a bipartisan China competitors invoice.
Schumer is prone to really feel some strain from inside his personal get together to maneuver on the TikTook laws. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner introduced after the House vote that he’ll work to “get this bill passed through the Senate and signed into law.”
In a joint assertion with Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, the highest Republican on the intelligence panel, Warner mentioned that “we are united in our concern about the national security threat posed by TikTok — a platform with enormous power to influence and divide Americans whose parent company ByteDance remains legally required to do the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party.”
FILE – A TikTook signal is displayed on their building in Culver City, Calif., March 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, who chairs one other panel with jurisdiction on the difficulty, mentioned she would “try to find a path forward that is constitutional and protects civil liberties.”
Roughly 30 TikTook influencers and others who traveled with them spoke out in opposition to the invoice on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. They chanted phrases like “Keep TikTok” forward of the vote. They additionally held indicators that learn “TikTok changed my life for the better” and “TikTok helped me grow my business.”
Dan Salinger, a Sacramento, California-based TikTook creator in attendance, mentioned he began creating content material on the app throughout the COVID-19 pandemic purely out of boredom. But since then his account, which options movies about his life and his father, who suffers from dementia, has grown in reputation. Today, he has 2 million followers on the app.
“I’m actually appalled for many reasons,” Salinger mentioned. “The speed with which they’re pushing this bill through does not give enough time for Americans to voice their concerns and opinions.”
Former President Donald Trump has spoken out in opposition to the House effort, however his vice chairman, Mike Pence, is urging Schumer to deliver the House invoice to a vote.
“There can be no doubt that this app is Chinese spyware and that a sale to a non-foreign adversary company is in the best interests of the American people,” Pence mentioned in a letter to Schumer.
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Associated Press employees author Didi Tang contributed to this report.
