President Biden has said he would sign the bill if it reaches his desk
Will TikTok actually be banned in the US?
The United States House of Representatives has approved the "TikTok bill" that would effectively ban the short-form video-sharing app unless owner ByteDance divests. Representatives voted Wednesday on the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversaries Controlled Applications Act, pushing it forward by a majority vote of 352 to 65. The bill is expected to move on to the Senate for another vote on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y. ) for it to the floor. President Biden said he would sign the bill if it reached his desk.
Despite the vote, TikTok is not banned in the US; the app will be available indefinitely. The bill must pass several layers of government processes; Senator Schumer said he will consult with the committee chairman to decide whether to bring it up for a vote in the Senate. If it moves into the Senate, it will face another vote where its face is uncertain. If it passes the Senate, it will go to President Biden for a signature. That signature doesn't necessarily mean TikTok is banned — the government's goal is to get ByteDance to sell the app to an American owner. If ByteDance does not comply, then distribution of TikTok would become illegal.
"I am voting NO on the TikTok forced sale bill," wrote Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday. "This bill was incredibly rushed, from committee to vote in four days, with little explanation. There are serious antitrust and privacy issues here, and any national security concerns should be presented to the public before a vote.
