A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a new bill that would allow for a ban on TikTok if its Chinese parent company ByteDance does not divest from the social media app, APA reports citing Radio Free Asia.
Led by Rep. Mike Gallagher, a Republican from Wisconsin and chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, the lawmakers said the bill would allow the U.S. president to ban foreign-owned social media apps deemed national security threats.
But the owners of those apps would be given a grace period to sell the apps to American owners to avoid the ban, they said.
“This bill is not a ban, and it's really not about TikTok. This bill is a choice,” said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois and his party’s top member on the committee, at a press conference.
“It's a choice for ByteDance, as well as any other social media app controlled by a foreign adversary,” he said. “ByteDance has repeatedly used the TikTok platform in ways that undermine not just American national security, but the interests of its users.”
The bill, which will be formally introduced to the House of Representatives on Thursday, is similar to one introduced by the Senate Intelligence Committee last year that was backed by the Biden administration. The White House called the new bill “welcome.”
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