The House passed a bill Wednesday that would lead to a nationwide ban on the popular video app TikTok if its China-based owner doesn’t sell, as lawmakers acted out of fear that the company’s current ownership structure is a threat to national security.
The bill, passed by a vote of 352-65, now moves to the Senate, where its prospects are unclear.
TikTok, which has more than 150 million American users, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese technology company ByteDance Ltd.
Lawmakers argue that ByteDance is beholden to the Chinese government, which could demand access to TikTok consumer data in the United States at any time it wants. The concern stems from a series of Chinese national security laws that oblige organizations to assist in intelligence gathering.
“We gave TikTok a clear choice,” said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. “Separate yourself from your parent company ByteDance, which is linked to the CCP (the Chinese Communist Party), and remain operational in the United States, or side with the CCP and face the consequences. The choice is up to TikTok.”
The approval of the bill by the House is only the first step. The Senate would also have to approve the measure for it to become law, and lawmakers in that chamber have indicated that it would undergo a thorough review. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he will need to consult with the chairmen of the relevant committees to determine the bill’s path.
President Joe Biden has said that if Congress approves the measure, he will sign it.
The House vote is poised to open a new front in the long-running feud between lawmakers and the tech industry. Members of Congress have long been critical of tech platforms and their expansive influence, often clashing with executives over industry practices. But by targeting TikTok, lawmakers are singling out a popular platform with millions of people, many of whom are younger, just months before the election.
Opposition to the bill was also bipartisan. Some Republicans have said the US should alert consumers if there are concerns about data privacy and propaganda, while some Democrats have expressed concern about the impact a ban would have on the millions of users in the US, many of whom are entrepreneurs and business owners.
“The answer to authoritarianism is no more authoritarianism,” said Representative Tom McClintock, Republican of California. “The answer to CCP-style propaganda is not CCP-style oppression. Let’s slow down before we stumble on this very steep and slippery slope.
Ahead of the House vote, a senior national security official in the Biden administration held a closed-door briefing with lawmakers Tuesday to discuss TikTok and the national security implications. Lawmakers are balancing these security concerns with a desire not to limit free speech online.
“What we’ve tried to do here is be very careful and thoughtful about the need to force the divestiture of TikTok without giving any authority to the executive branch to regulate content or prosecute any American company,” said Rep. Mike Gallagher, the l author of the bill, as emerged from the briefing.
TikTok has long denied that it can be used as a tool of the Chinese government. The company said it has never shared U.S. user data with Chinese authorities and won’t do so if asked. To date, the US government has also provided no evidence that TikTok shared such information with Chinese authorities. The platform has approximately 170 million users in the United States
The security briefing appeared to have changed the minds of few, instead solidifying the views of both sides.
“We have a national security obligation to prevent America’s most strategic adversary from being so involved in our lives,” said Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y.
But Rep. Robert Garcia, D-California, said no information has been shared with him that convinces him that TikTok is a national security threat. “My opinion, leaving that briefing, hasn’t changed at all,” he said.
“The idea of banning, essentially, entrepreneurs, small business owners, the primary way that young people communicate with each other, is crazy to me,” Garcia said.
“Not a single thing we heard in today’s confidential briefing was unique to TikTok. These are things that happen on every single social media platform,” said Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif.
Republican leaders moved quickly to introduce the bill after its introduction last week. A House committee passed the legislation unanimously, with 50 votes, even after their offices were inundated with calls from TikTok users asking to abandon the effort. Some offices even turned off their phones due to the assault.
Lawmakers from both parties are eager to engage with China on a range of issues. The House formed a special committee to focus on China-related issues. And Schumer directed committee chairmen to start working with Republicans on a bipartisan bill on Chinese competition.
Senators said they were open to the bill but suggested they didn’t want to move forward hastily.
“It’s not a redeeming quality to me that we move very quickly in technology because history shows that a lot of mistakes are made,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
In advancing the legislation, House Republicans are also forging a rare relationship between themselves and former President Donald Trump as he seeks another term in the White House.
Trump has expressed opposition to the effort. He said Monday that he still believes TikTok poses a national security risk, but is against banning the hugely popular app because doing so would help its rival, Facebook, which he continues to criticize for its 2020 election defeat.
As president, Trump attempted to ban TikTok through an executive order that called “the spread in the United States of mobile applications developed and owned by companies in the People’s Republic of China (China)” a threat to “national security, foreign policy, and the economy of the United States.” Courts, however, blocked the action after TikTok sued, arguing that such actions would violate free speech and due process rights.