The United States House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a bill that could eventually ban the social media platform TikTok in the country, in its latest attack against both China and big tech.
The bill received resoundingly bipartisan support, with a vote of 352 to 65 in favour. It now heads to the 100-member Senate, where its prospects are less clear although, President Joe Biden has said he would sign the bill into law if it reached his desk.
If Joe Biden signs the bill, it automatically turns to law and TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance would be given about six months to divest from its US assets or see its video-sharing app banned in the US.
The legislation stems from concerns that ByteDance is owned by the Chinese government. Government officials have expressed fears that the data TikTok collects from its roughly 170 million American users could pose a national security threat.
Recent national security laws passed in China, which can compel organisations to…
Source: Linda Ikeji
