Joe Biden on Friday said he would sign a bill that could ban TikTok if Congress approves it.
“If they pass it, I’ll sign it,” Biden told reporters.
The legislation, called the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, “calls on China’s ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok — or effectively face a U.S. ban,” the Associated Press reports.
According to reports, the bill is quickly making its way through Congress.
Joe Biden claims that if Congress passes a bill that could ban TikTok, he will sign it. pic.twitter.com/KLMV74e5Pz
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) March 8, 2024
The Hill reports:
The bill from Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee with unanimous support on Thursday, just two days after it was introduced. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi are the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the a special House committee focused on China.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said Thursday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, he will be bring the bill to a House floor vote next week.
ADVERTISEMENTAlthough House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) raised concerns about Republicans using a “rushed process” on the bill, he and other Democrats supported it over national security concerns they said are raised by TikTok based on its Chinese-based parent company ByteDance.
TikTok has pushed back on those allegations.
The bill would require ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a ban on U.S. app stores and web hosting services, banning users from accessing the platform. It gives ByteDance 165 days to divest TikTok once passed.
“Next week, the House will vote to give Biden the power to decide which apps you can run on your phone, based on whether he deems them to be owned by a foreign adversary. I’ve never used TikTok, but I’m not voting to give the President new powers to ban it and other apps,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) commented.
Next week, the House will vote to give Biden the power to decide which apps you can run on your phone,
based on whether he deems them to be owned by a foreign adversary.
I’ve never used TikTok, but I’m not voting to give the President new powers to ban it and other apps.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) March 8, 2024
Lawmakers in the US are considering a bill that would force #TikTok to cut ties with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or face a ban in the #US.
Read more: https://t.co/G77HJ5gmXU pic.twitter.com/UuZp15XIQe
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) March 9, 2024
Donald Trump commented on the potential TikTok ban.
“If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business. I don’t want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better. They are a true Enemy of the People!” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
From the Associated Press:
The White House had provided technical support in the drafting of the bill, though White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier this week the TikTok legislation “still needs some work” to get to a place where Biden would endorse it.
ADVERTISEMENTFormer President Donald Trump, the likely Republican nominee, came out in a Truth Social post on Thursday saying he opposed a ban because it would help rival social media platform Facebook. Trump’s opposition to the legislation comes after he issued — and then rescinded — an executive action late in his presidency intended to ban TikTok and another popular app, WeChat.
Trump’s pushback puts him on the opposite side of the debate of powerful Republicans, including Johnson and Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who has called the legislation a “critical national security bill.”
Both the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission have warned that TikTok owner ByteDance could share user data — such as browsing history, location and biometric identifiers — with China’s authoritarian government. TikTok said it has never done that and wouldn’t do so if asked. The U.S. government also hasn’t provided evidence of that happening.
In a separate move, Biden recently signed an executive order allowing the Department of Justice and other federal agencies to take steps to prevent the large-scale transfer of Americans’ personal data to what the White House calls “countries of concern,” including China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela.
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