The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill on Wednesday that would give TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the U.S. assets of the short-video app, or face a ban, in the greatest threat to the app since the Trump administration, APA reports citing Reuters.
The bill passed 352-65, with bipartisan support, but it faces a more uncertain path in the Senate where some favor a different approach to regulating foreign-owned apps posing security concerns. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate will review the legislation.
"We are working tirelessly to continue educating the Senate about the impact this proposed legislation would have on the 170 million Americans who use our service," TikTok told employees in a memo seen by Reuters. "Our strategy remains the same - we continue to believe that the best way to address concerns about national security is with transparent, US-based protection of US user data."
The fate of TikTok, used by about 170 million Americans, has become a major issue in Washington. Lawmakers said their offices had received large volumes of calls from teen-age TikTok users who oppose the legislation, with the volume of complaints at times exceeding the number of calls seeking a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
"This process was secret and the bill was jammed through for one reason: it's a ban," a TikTok spokesperson said after the vote.
The measure is the latest in a series of moves in Washington to respond to U.S. national security concerns about China, from connected vehicles to advanced artificial intelligence chips to cranes at U.S. ports.
"This is a critical national security issue. The Senate must take this up and pass it," No. 2 House Republican Steve Scalise said on social media platform X.
A number of prominent Democrats in the House voted against the bill including House Democratic Whip Kathleen Clark, Arizona Senate candidate Ruben Gallego, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as well as the top Democrats on the Judiciary, Ways and Means, Transportation and Intelligence committees.
"There are serious antitrust and privacy questions here, and any national security concerns should be laid out to the public prior to a vote," Ocasio-Cortez said.
Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell, who will play an important role in the Senate's next move, said she wants legislation "that could hold up in court," and is considering a separate bill, but is not sure what her next step is.
The vote comes just over a week since the bill was proposed following one public hearing with little debate, and after action in Congress had stalled for more than a year. Last month, President Joe Biden's re-election campaign joined TikTok, raising hopes among TikTok officials that legislation was unlikely this year.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee last week voted 50-0 in favor of the bill, setting it up for a vote before the full House.
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