Many people have heard the news that the future of the widely used social media app, TikTok, is in jeopardy. On Wednesday, March 13th, the House voted 352-65 to approve a measure that would ban TikTok from operating in the United States unless ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, sells it to another company. ByteDance would have 165 days to comply. This bill now heads to the Senate.
The issue with TikTok is that it is owned by China, and US officials fear that the parent company ByteDance could hand over personal information of the 170 million Americans who use TikTok to Beijing. TikTok said it has not been asked for that data and would not share it if asked. The concern is that if Chinese authorities ordered them to do so, ByteDance would have to hand over the data. Opponents to this bill have raised free speech concerns. They also claim that TikTok has taken steps to ensure safety by storing data of American users on US servers.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer declined to say whether he would bring the decision to a vote. President Joe Biden said that he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk. White House secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday that the Biden administration is looking to the Senate to act swiftly. Earlier efforts to ban TikTok have failed. In 2020, President Donald Trump tried to ban TikTok by executive order, but the courts blocked this effort.
A recent poll from The Associated Press and NORC center for the Public Affairs found that 31% of US adults want a nationwide ban, while 35% would oppose a ban. Among those who use TikTok daily, 73% say they would oppose a national ban.
TikTok has pushed back against the bill with lobbying efforts. Push alerts on TikTok urge creators to call members of Congress. This effort backfired. Even if the Senate passes the measure, TikTok said it will exercise its legal rights before it considers the sale of its US operations. Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that he was putting together an association of companies to buy TikTok. Existing large companies like Meta, Google, and Microsoft would probably not attempt to buy TikTok because of the Biden administration’s use of the antitrust law to prevent the tech giants from getting even larger. Another challenge is that a buyer would likely not have access to TikTok’s secret algorithm that gets tens of millions of Americans to spend 90 minutes a day on the app.
Even some Morgan students are regular users of TikTok. Sophomore Avery Vece went viral on TikTok when her most popular video received 2.2 million views. She said, “When people think of the ban of TikTok, they don’t think about the creators whose platforms might only be on TikTok.” She argues that “taking away this social media will actually affect more people in a negative way than in a positive way.” She explains how she uses the app: “I use this social media platform to express my opinions, relate to others, make new friends, or even be inspired by many people.” There are many influencers on TikTok that use the app in the same way. Avery said, “Banning this app will affect influencers who have worked so hard to gain followers to share things people can relate to, so banning this app will affect their work tremendously.
All information about the ban was found in the USA Today article House passes TikTok bill. Are TikTok’s days numbered? What you need to know.
Update 4/3: photo
