US House Set To Vote On TikTok Regulation

The US House of Representatives is expediting a vote scheduled for next week on a bill that mandates China’s ByteDance to divest from the short video app TikTok within six months or face a ban in the United States. The Energy and Commerce Committee’s unanimous 50-0 vote marks a significant advancement for a potential US crackdown on TikTok, which boasts approximately 170 million users in the country. This development follows unsuccessful attempts by then-President Donald Trump to ban the app in 2020.

Previous efforts to address TikTok’s status had faced obstacles over the past year, primarily due to extensive lobbying efforts by the company. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise stated that lawmakers will vote next week “to force TikTok to sever their ties with the Chinese Communist Party.”

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TikTok, asserting that it has not and will not share US user data with the Chinese government, argues that the bill effectively amounts to a ban. It remains uncertain whether China would approve any potential sale, and the feasibility of divesting within the stipulated six-month timeframe is also in question.

Following the committee vote, TikTok expressed its opposition, contending that the legislation has a predetermined outcome – a total ban in the United States. The company argued that such a move would infringe upon the constitutional right to free expression for 170 million Americans, adversely impacting businesses, denying artists an audience, and jeopardizing the livelihoods of numerous creators nationwide.

Prior to the vote, lawmakers received a closed-door classified briefing on national security concerns associated with TikTok’s Chinese ownership.