House Democrats passed a bill Wednesday that would force Chinese internet company ByteDance to sell its wildly popular social media app TikTok.
The vote was the latest development in a years-long cold war between the United States and China over who controls valuable technologies from computer chips to artificial intelligence. Lawmakers and the White House have raised concerns that Chinese ownership of TikTok poses a national security risk because Beijing could use the app to gain access to Americans’ data or carry out a disinformation campaign.
The bill faces a difficult path in the Senate. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, has not yet committed to voting on it.
Here’s what you should know about the bill.
Why did House Democrats support the bill?
Many fear that the Chinese government could demand personal information from ByteDance about Americans and that ByteDance would have to comply under Chinese law.
Lawmakers including Rep. Mike Gallagher, the Wisconsin Republican who co-sponsored the bill, and Sen. Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, also say China could use TikTok’s powerful algorithm to feed political propaganda to its users . Christopher A. Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Avril Haines, director of national intelligence, highlighted the concerns last year.
The bill, which Mr. Gallagher introduced with Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois, received bipartisan support. The House voted 352 to 65 to pass the bill, with one vote present.
TikTok says the concerns are unfounded. It said about 60 percent of the company was owned by global institutional investors, including financial giants Susquehanna International Group and BlackRock. It is also said that three Americans sit on the five-member board. The company says it spent more than $1 billion on a plan to store sensitive U.S. user data domestically on servers run by American cloud computing company Oracle.
How would the bill force ByteDance to sell TikTok?
The bill essentially says TikTok must be sold to a buyer that satisfies the U.S. government within six months. The sale would have to guarantee that ByteDance no longer has control over TikTok or its algorithms that recommend content to users.
If ByteDance cannot or refuses to sell TikTok, it would be illegal for app stores and web hosting companies to distribute or update the app in the United States. The Justice Department could punish any company that works with TikTok or offers its app for download.
Would it be easy for ByteDance to sell TikTok?
Probably not.
With 170 million users in the United States alone, TikTok would come with a hefty price tag that few companies or individuals could afford. If ByteDance were forced to sell, it is also unclear whether ByteDance would put the app’s entire global presence up for sale or just its U.S. operations.
Companies that could potentially afford to buy TikTok include tech giants like Microsoft, Google and Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram. But the Biden administration has repeatedly tried to use antitrust law to prevent these companies from growing larger.
Even if ByteDance could find a buyer for TikTok, China might not allow a sale. When American officials first tried to force a sale of TikTok in 2020, Beijing imposed export restrictions on technology similar to TikTok’s content recommendation algorithm. Last year Beijing said it would oppose a sale.
“You won’t be able to force ByteDance to sell,” said James Lewis, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
What other options does ByteDance offer for TikTok?
In addition to a sale, ByteDance could potentially pursue other options, such as spinning off TikTok through an IPO.
The details of the divestiture would likely hinge on the key question of whether ByteDance would sell or spin off TikTok’s entire global footprint or just the parts of the app that operate in the United States. Selling the US app alone could lead to major problems, from how the algorithm that suggests content to users works to whether it can display content from other countries.
What are the political backgrounds of a ban?
Support for a ban was bipartisan, with both Republicans and Democrats concerned about China’s influence.
But surprisingly, former President Donald J. Trump opposed the TikTok legislation in recent days. That was a reversal from his position on the app in 2020, when he tried to ban it.
“Trump’s opposition is a significant new headwind to passage of this bill,” said Paul Gallant, policy analyst at TD Cowen. “A lot will depend on whether he goes to the mat on this TikTok bill like he did on the border security bill.”
Free speech groups have also spoken out against the bill, saying they fear a ban would hamper free speech.
How would a ban work and what would it mean for TikTok users?
If passed by the Senate and signed by the president, the bill would impose civil penalties on app stores like those owned by Apple and Google if they distribute or update TikTok.
The app is already available on millions of phones in the United States, but the restriction on updates is likely to affect users’ access to it.
This would be complemented by a measure banning web hosting companies from helping distribute the app.
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2024-03-13 18:27:52
www.nytimes.com