Picture Alliance | Getty Images
A bipartisan panel of lawmakers unanimously approved a controversial bill Thursday that could lead to TikTok being blocked in the U.S. if it doesn’t break with Chinese parent company ByteDance.
If the bill becomes law, TikTok would have a little less than six months to separate from ByteDance or be banned from apps and web hosting sites in the United States
Lawmakers on the Energy and Commerce Committee, which gave the bill the green light Thursday afternoon after months of negotiations, said the intent was not to get rid of TikTok but to prevent a Chinese company from having access to large amounts of American data. The committee voted 50-0 to send the bill to the full House or representatives.
“It’s very important that it be targeted and specific to the threat to national security,” Energy and Commerce Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., said before the vote. “It has nothing to do with content. This is about the threat based on the data collected.”
The bill was implemented quickly and received important support. House Speaker Mike Johnson endorsed the bill on Thursday as “an important bipartisan measure in the fight against China, our greatest geopolitical enemy, which is actively undermining our economy and security.”
President Joe Biden is also pushing for the law to be passed. The White House worked with lawmakers from both parties on the bill and a National Security Council spokesman said the measure was “an important and welcome step.”
Previous moves to restrict TikTok were met with resistance on free speech grounds. A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the current bill “will trample on the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs.”
Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Computer & Communications Industry Association and the Center for Democracy & Technology have all opposed the bill due to similar free speech concerns.
TikTok is trying to get users on board. On the app, they were greeted with a screenshot warning them that Congress was “planning a complete ban on TikTok.” Several people said the app asked for their zip code, provided the name of their congressman and recommended they get in touch. Several staffers and lawmakers told CNBC that their offices were inundated with calls, mostly from children.
Lawmakers said TikTok’s action was another example of how easy it is for the app to target Americans and send misinformation.
“Today is about our bill and about intimidating members who are considering this bill,” said Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wi., chairman of the Chinese Communist Party special committee. “But tomorrow it could be misinformation or lies about an election, a war or much more.”
REGARD: Biden campaign joins TikTok even though the app is banned on government phones
Source link
2024-03-07 23:59:45
www.cnbc.com