This measure was included in the 95 billion US dollars (88.7 billion euros) foreign aid package, including military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. It has cleared all hurdles in Congress and is now on its way to President Joe Biden’s desk.
U.S. and other Western officials have expressed concern about TikTok’s popularity among youth, saying it allows Beijing to collect data and spy on users. In the US alone, 170 million people use this app. people. Critics also say that TikTok panders to Beijing and is a tool for spreading propaganda, which China and the company itself deny.
The bill, which could lead to the rare step of banning a company from the US market, passed the Senate by a 79-18 vote. The Senate vote came three days after it was given the go-ahead by the House, where the legislation had strong bipartisan support.
Mr. Biden has said he will sign the bill. He reiterated his concerns about TikTok in a rare phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this month.
TikTok took to the floor after Saturday’s House vote, saying it was “unfortunate” that lawmakers had sought to “quickly pass an insurance bill that would mention $170 million.” Americans’ right to free speech, crushed by 7 million corporate and closed platform that contributes $24 billion to the US economy annually. US dollars”.
The bill would require ByteDance to sell TikTok within a year, or the platform would be removed from Apple and Google’s app stores in the United States.
Steven Mnuchin, the former Treasury secretary under Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, has said he is interested in taking over TikTok and has assembled a group of investors.
