The US House of Representatives has approved a bill that could potentially ban TikTok in the US if the app’s parent company does not sell it. Concerns have been raised that the app, which is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, poses a threat to national security. There are growing fears that the app may pass sensitive personal data on US citizens and businesses to the Chinese government.
In March, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee voted 24 to 16 to give President Joe Biden the power to enforce the ban if it is required. Following this, the bill has been passed in the House of Representatives and will now head to the Senate for further consideration before being presented to President Biden. The bill was approved with an overwhelmingly bipartisan majority.
Jenna Leventoff, a senior policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, criticized the legislation, calling it “vague, overbroad, and unconstitutional.” However, the US government and other countries remain concerned about the potential risks posed by the app. Over 30 US states, Canada, and the European Union have already banned the app from being used on government-owned devices.
TikTok has previously denied accusations of sharing data with the Chinese government and maintains that user data is not held in China. The company has also warned that a ban on the app would mean a “ban on the export of American culture and values to the billion people who use our service worldwide.” Meanwhile, Universal Music Group has recently pulled all music from its labels from the app, affecting artists such as Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Billie Eilish, and Justin Bieber
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