A rapidly advancing proposal from members of Congress could pose one of the biggest threats yet to TikTok's future in the US.
Bipartisan legislation from the House of Representatives would force the China-based platform to sell a controlling stake or face removal from U.S. app stores.
Republicans in the House of Representatives have proposed bringing the bill up for a vote this week, although it is unclear whether a similar proposal could survive the Democratic-controlled Senate, which has not yet drafted any companion legislation.
In recent days, however, President Joe Biden and his Republican rival Donald Trump have each weighed in, throwing a political wrench into TikTok's future in the middle of an election year.
The president has indicated he would sign the legislation into law, while Trump appears to have reversed his position and now suggests he would not support a measure that could effectively ban TikTok in the US.
Their opposition could raise an important political issue as millions of young Americans, including eight million newly eligible young voters, prepare to cast their ballots in the 2024 elections.
If signed into law by a group of Republican lawmakers investigating the Chinese Communist Party, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act - co-authored by a group of Republican lawmakers investigating the Chinese Communist Party - would allow federal law enforcement agencies label certain apps as threats to national security if they are determined to do so. under the control of foreign adversaries.
Those apps would then be banned from US app stores unless they cut ties with those entities within 180 days.
The move follows pressure from members of Congress and officials in the US to force TikTok's parent company ByteDance to divest from the app amid questions about whether China is using TikTok to collect US user data. Lawmakers have also accused TikTok of negatively impacting the mental health of young people.
ByteDance would be forced to sell all but 20 percent of TikTok's shares to a US-based company in order to remain active in the country.
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The independent has asked TikTok for comment.
On March 7, a House committee advanced the bill by a rare unanimous 50-0 vote, even as TikTok users flooded congressional lines with thousands of calls urging lawmakers to withdraw.
That same day, the former president wrote in his Truth Social that "if you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their revenue," referring to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
"I don't want Facebook, which cheated in the last election, to do any better," Trump wrote, echoing a baseless conspiracy theory that social media platforms rigged elections against him. "They are a real enemy of the people!"
The former president's latest statements mark a reversal of his previous support for banning the app. He now says he would have banned the app during his presidency, but instead left it up to Congress.
"I got to the point where I could have made it happen if I wanted to," he told MSNBC Squawbox on March 11. "I should have said, you guys decide, you guys make that decision because there's a lot of people talking who love it... There's a lot of young kids on TikTok who are going to go crazy without it. There are many users."
In 2020, Mr. Trump issued an executive order banning TikTok, which the company successfully challenged in court. His administration pushed for Microsoft to acquire the app, even as the company worked with software company Oracle to protect U.S. user data.
The reasons for his reversal are not clear, although he recently spoke at a conference for the influential right-wing group Club for Growth at the request of Republican megadonor Jeff Yass, who has a $20 billion stake in ByteDance.
Club for Growth, which Trump previously labeled "Club for No Growth," is largely expected to spend millions of dollars in the 2024 election cycle to support the Republican Party nominee against Biden.
A huge injection into his campaign would be a major relief against a tidal wave of costly legal liabilities, including nearly half a billion dollars owed to New York after he was found liable for fraud, and tens of millions of dollars owed to his legal teams as they formed. their defense in four criminal cases and a growing list of lawsuits.
President Biden, meanwhile, told reporters on March 8 that if Congress passes the bill, "I will sign it."
His administration banned TikTok from federal government devices, although his re-election campaign joined the app in February.
The legislation also has the support of the Biden administration's Federal Communications Commission, whose commissioner accused TikTok of "engaging in a pattern of illegal surveillance and making false statements about personnel in Beijing having access to sensitive US user data".
"TikTok's conduct makes clear that it is beholden to the CCP and poses an unacceptable threat to U.S. national security," said Commissioner Brendan Carr.
The video app "cannot continue to function in the US in its current form," he added.
Former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said The independent that she feels "pretty good" about the fact that the full House passed the measure on March 13.
Federal law enforcement agencies and lawmakers from both parties, as well as Mr. Trump, have argued that TikTok poses a national security threat. Officials have argued that the Chinese government is or could use TikTok to collect data from millions of users and display content that could distort users' opinions, especially surrounding information designed to influence the outcome of the 2024 election. manipulate.
The Biden administration previously backed an alternative Democratic-led proposal in the Senate that would aim to address national security concerns about TikTok without trampling on Americans' First Amendment rights.
Several Republican-led states have banned TikTok on government devices, while the state of Montana has banned the app altogether, although that law was blocked in federal court.
Last week, a message on the app warned users that the US government will "take away the community you and millions of other Americans love" and called for support to prevent a "shutdown" of TikTok.
"This will damage millions of businesses, destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country, and deny artists an audience," the message read. "Let Congress know what TikTok means to you and tell them to vote NO. Call now."
In a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on March 11, House Representatives Mike Gallagher and Raja Krishnamoorthi demanded that the company "stop spreading false claims in its campaign to manipulate and mobilize American citizens on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party."
"These messages are misleading," they wrote. "All TikTok should do is break away from CCP-controlled ByteDance. However, if TikTok chose not to get rid of this CCP control, the application would no longer be offered in US app stores. But TikTok would have no one to blame but itself - it would choose this path by opting for CCP control over US privacy and national security."
The bill gives TikTok "a simple choice," said Mr. Gallagher, a Republican co-chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP. "Each side of the users... and let people speak freely, without fear of propaganda or censorship, or side with the Chinese Communist Party."
