The House passed legislation Saturday that would ban TikTok in the US if the popular social media platform's China-based owner doesn't sell its stake within a year. That doesn't mean the app will go away anytime soon, the AP reports. The decision by House Republicans to include TikTok as part of a larger foreign aid package fast-tracked the ban after an earlier version had stalled in the Senate. A standalone bill with a six-month selling deadline passed the House in March as both Democrats and Republicans voiced national security concerns about the app's owner, the Chinese technology firm ByteDance.
But the maneuver could speed up the TikTok crackdown's route through Congress, per the Washington Post, while putting pressure on the Senate. Negotiations between the chambers had produced a compromise measure, and the Post finds support increasing in the Senate. TikTok is "a spy balloon in Americans' phones" used to "surveil and exploit America's personal information," Republican Rep. Michael McCaul told the House in introducing the provision for debate on Saturday. The company could challenge the law in court, per the AP, possibly arguing that it deprives millions of TikTok users of their First Amendment rights. President Biden said last month that he would sign the TikTok bill if Congress passes it.
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