The U.S. House of Representatives today passed the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which is legislation that would force TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the social media network or face a ban in the United States. The bill now goes to the U.S. Senate, where its fate remains murky.
U.S. lawmakers are hoping to force ByteDance to sell the TikTok social app to a company outside of China. Lawmakers have concerns that the Chinese government could gain access to data about users located in the United States. ByteDance would not legally be able to refuse such a request from China officials. There have also been concerns that China would use TikTok to spread political propaganda.
ByteDance had hoped to avoid this legislation by alleviating such fears by storing U.S. data on Oracle-owned servers, but that has failed to appease lawmakers and other critics, including the White House.
If the bill makes it through the Senate, ByteDance would be required to sell TikTok to a U.S. government-approved company within six months.
Should ByteDance not sell the company, U.S. app stores would be required to remove the app to avoid being charged with breaking the law. Things could get complicated, as China would also need to approve the sale, and the Chinese government said last year that it would “firmly oppose” a forced sale.
While there are a limited number of companies with enough resources to be able to afford to purchase TikTok, some firms, including Google and Meta would likely not be allowed to purchase it, due to antitrust concerns.
There are a limited number of companies with enough capital to be able to afford TikTok, and the obvious choices, such as Google or Meta, would likely be barred from acquiring it due to antitrust concerns.
An NBC News analysis reviewed the votes of every member of the House, grouped by age, and found that 78% of the 124 members under the age of 50 voted in favor of the bill and about 19% of them voted against it. Three members under 50 didn’t vote and one voted present.
If the bill manages to make it through the Senate, U.S. President Joe Biden has confirmed that he would sign it into law.