In Rare Act of Bipartisanship House Passes Bill That Threatens To “Ban” TikTok, Content Creators Are BIG MAD & Worried
Written by djfrosty on March 13, 2024
Source: Anna Moneymaker / Getty / TikTok
Content creators might want to start working on their Instagram Reels skills after the GOP-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill that could end TikTok’s run in the United States.
In a rare act of bipartisanship, the House agreed on a measure calling for TikTok’s owner, the Chinese-owned company ByteDance, to divest the TikTok app or risk a US ban.
The bill passed with an eye-opening 352-65 vote and one member voting present, but it still faces uncertainty when it reaches the Senate.
Per CNBC:
The legislation, dubbed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, was introduced March 5 by Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Two days later, House members on the Energy and CommerceCommittee voted unanimously to approve the bill, which refers to TikTok as a threat to national security because it is controlled by a foreign adversary.
The bill now heads to the Senate where it faces an uncertain future as senators appear divided about the legislation, and other federal and state-led efforts to ban TikTok have stalled.
TikTok Repsonds To The Bill Passing The Senate
As expected, the folks at TikTok were not happy about the developments.
“This process was secret, and the bill was jammed through for one reason: it’s a ban,” a spokesperson for TikTok said after the vote was passed. “We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents, and realize the impact on the economy, 7 million small businesses, and the 170 million Americans who use our service.”
President Joe Biden has already expressed that he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk. Ironically, President Biden has an official TikTok account that his administration created in February as part of his re-election campaign.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the administration would provide “technical support” in crafting the bill and noted in a March 6 briefing, “It’s on legal standing, and it’s in a place where it can get out of Congress, then the President would sign it.”
The House claims the bill “does not ban TikTok” and demands ByteDance to divest from TikTok within 6 months” “to remain available in the United States.”
If the bill passes its final hurdle and gets Biden’s signature, Apple, Google, and other internet-hosting companies can no longer support TikTok or any other ByteDance apps.
Donald Trump Thinks He’s Slick
While most lawmakers agree that TikTok threatens the country’s national security, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump feels otherwise.
In an interview with CNBC, he claims that getting rid of TikTok would only make Facebook and Instagram’s owner Meta more powerful.
“Without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people,” Trump claims.
His comments are hypocritical because, in 2020, he signed an executive order banning TikTok and WeChat “transactions” and eventually giving his approval of a $10 billion and $30 billion acquisition involving Microsoft that eventually fell through.
The Biden Administration would revoke his executive orders.
Content Creators Are BIG MAD
Content Creators are BIG MAD about the ruling and were present at Capitol Hill to let lawmakers know that this ban will affect their livelihoods.
Social media is also reacting to the news, and can’t believe the only thing lawmakers can agree on is that allowing a company possibly owned by the Chinese communist party company access to your data is bad, while other pressing issues like the minimum wage, “border crisis,” inflation, which is cooling, but still high in some areas due to various reasons, health care remains unsolved.
Remember that the GOP controls the House of Representatives and decides what bills come to the floor.
Just saying.
Anyway, TikTok has even reached out to its followers in anticipation of the bill passing the House.
We shall see if the Senate agrees with the House on the matter; there is no guarantee that this will happen.
You can see more reactions to TikTok’s possible banning below.