Is America getting ready to ban Tik Tok?

The bill passed on a bipartisan vote, 352 to 65, but faces a more uncertain path in the Senate, as some favor a different approach. They are for organizing external applications that create security concerns.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said: The Senate will review this legislation.

The passage of this law is the latest step in Washington to respond to US national security concerns about China, from connected cars to advanced artificial intelligence chips and cranes in the country’s ports.

Policymakers’ emphasis on quick action against Tiktok

Steve Scalise, the number 2 Republican in the US House of Representatives, said about TikTok on the X social network: This is an important matter of national security. The Senate must accept and approve this matter. Karin Jean-Pierre, the press secretary of the White House, said: “The Biden administration also wants the Senate to take quick action.”

The fate of TikTok, which is used by about 170 million Americans, has become a major issue in Washington. So that lawmakers have complained that their offices are filled with calls from TikTok users who are against this law.

TikTok CEO Xu Zichu is going to Washington this week, a well-informed source said.

In a video published after the vote, he said: If this law is implemented, it will end with the ban of Tik Tok in America and billions of dollars will be taken out of the pockets of content producers and small businesses.

He added: This company will use its legal rights to avoid the ban. The bill gives the company 165 days to file a lawsuit after it is signed by the US president, who announced last week that he would do so.

The political climate in Washington is increasingly supportive of the bill, with many politicians reluctant to show a soft stance on China during an election year. However, there are concerns about the impact of any ban on young voters.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday: Do we want TikTok as a platform owned by an American company or owned by China? Do we want Tik Tok data (data of young and adult users) to stay here in the US or go to China?

China’s foreign ministry has criticized this law and argued that although the US has found no evidence that TikTok is a threat to US national security, it has never stopped following TikTok.

How did the anti-TikTok measures get to this stage?

TikTok has faced a number of bans and attempted bans in recent years, starting with Donald Trump’s 2020 executive order and eventually being blocked by the courts for violating the First Amendment. Trump has since changed his stance and is now opposed to banning TikTok. On the other hand, Joe Biden has said that if this bill is approved, he will sign it.

Montana tried to pass a statewide ban on the TikTok app in 2023, but the law was struck down by a federal judge for violating the First Amendment. The use of this application was banned on government phones in the United States in 2022, and as of 2023, at least 34 states have banned TikTok on government devices. At least 50 universities in America have banned access to TikTok using Wi-Fi on campus and university-owned computers.

In March 2023, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States asked Byte Dance to sell its shares in TikTok, otherwise it will face the possibility of banning this application, but no action was taken.

TikTok was banned in India in 2020 after a wave of dangerous challenges that led to the death of some users. The ban had a significant impact on competition in India, giving a significant market to short-form video service YouTube and Instagram Reels, which are TikTok’s direct competitors. This application is not available in China itself. In this country, Devin, which is another video application of Byte Dance Company, is widely used.

Uncertainty about sales

It is not clear whether China will approve any sale of TikTok or whether TikTok could be divested within six months.

This bill gives ByteDance 165 days to sell TikTok. If the company refuses to do so, the app stores of Google and Apple and others are not legally allowed to sell the TikTok application or provide web hosting services to applications controlled by ByteDance.

Trump tried to ban TikTok and WeChat in 2020, but the implementation of his order was blocked by American courts. According to a Reuters report, Trump said in an executive order in August 2020 that TikTok’s data collection would give the Chinese Communist Party access to the personal and proprietary information of Americans and potentially allow China to track the locations of federal employees and contractors. and make files of personal information for blackmail and do corporate espionage.

How is the Tiktok ban implemented?

Due to the decentralized nature of the Internet, enforcing this ban would be complicated. The bill passed by the parliament fines app stores for making TikTok available for daily download, but it will be difficult for users who already have the app installed on their phones to stop individual use.

According to the Guardian report, ISPs may also be forced to block IP addresses associated with TikTok, but this ban can be easily circumvented by using a filter breaker or VPN.

Source: ISNA