US passes revised bill that could ban TikTok within a year
The US House of Representatives once again voted on a bill that could ban TikTok. The updated version now requires ByteDance to sell the social media to a US company within one year instead of six months. Failing to do so would result in TikTok"s ban from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
TikTok preemptively posted a statement on X, saying the ban would "trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the US economy, annually."
It didn"t move anyone from the House of Representatives, and the bill was approved with even stronger support than last month, with a 360-58 vote. Texas Republican representative Michael McCaul, the author of the bill, said it would protect Americans and especially America"s children from the "malign influence of Chinese propaganda."
The bill is expected to pass a vote in Congress, and once it does, it will be up to President Joe Biden to sign it into a law. He already stated he would do so. Once this happens, ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, has twelve months to find a US buyer for the social platform or face a ban.
