Wednesday was a massive day at the exact point where the awesome power of social media intersects with the law.
The House voted on a bill that could lead to a TikTok ban in the U.S. The bipartisan bill, H.R. 7521, known in short form as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, would require TikTok to sever any and all relationships with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, within 180 days or face a ban in the United States.
This legislation purportedly aims to protect national security by preventing apps developed by foreign adversaries from being distributed in the U.S. On Wednesday morning, China responded just a few hours before the House vote by making it crystal clear that the U.S. banning TikTok is an “act of bullying.”
On Wednesday, it received more than the required two-thirds majority in the House, with 352 members in favor and 65 opposed. This supermajority was needed as the vote was under suspension of the rules, so its passing is seen as far more bipartisan than it would have been with a simple majority.
If this bill now finds a way to make it through the Senate, ByteDance will have to sell TikTok or the app will be banned from U.S. app stores and web-hosting services. In other words, you won’t be able to download TikTok in the U.S.
Why did the bill gain such strong momentum in the House, with the Biden administration also agreeing to support it as a measure to safeguard national security?
The foundational argument in support of the bill comes from an ongoing fear that TikTok is a........