The TikTok Ban: Everything We Know

The TikTok Ban: Everything We Know

Highlights 

The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would require Beijing-based company ByteDance to sell TikTok or it will lose access to app stores in the United States. 

The bill will now go on to the Senate.

The CEO denies its users’ data is in danger. 

ByteDance will have six months to sell the app if the bill is passed. 

TikTok is one of the most influential social media apps to hit the market. The app has over 100 million active users in the US, which is why a lot of Americans can’t help but feel invested in this new situation. For those of you living under a rock, the House of Representatives has just signed a bill to ban TikTok in the US. Why? Because it is owned by ByteDance, a company based in Beijing, China, which is a problem according to US officials.

The concern is that TikTok could give the data of American users to the Chinese government, or possibly influence US citizens through the algorithm. This isn’t the first time lawmakers have tried to shut down the app, which is why TikTok adopted an initiative called Project Texas in 2022, to safeguard American users' data on servers in the US. Despite this, TikTok would have to give their users’ data to the Chinese government if they so demanded. 

Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal said, “The Chinese Communists are weaponizing information that they are constantly, surreptitiously collecting from 170 million Americans and potentially aiming that information, using it through algorithms at the core of American democracy.” 

(Sen. Richard Blumenthal)

Many are displeased. Many TikTok users are arguing that this is a violation of the First Amendment, and since there is a lot of chatter on TikTok about the situation in Gaza, many are saying it is a way for the government to silence negative talk about Israel. This is not an unjustified concern, as Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton said that TikTok has a “clear skew in pro-Hamas propaganda on TikTok versus other social media apps.”

So, what does it mean if this bill gets passed? ByteDance will have six months to sell the app. If they do not, it will be removed from app stores in the US, and its website will become inaccessible. Now, there is no way to make the app disappear from everyone’s phones, but since the app will be removed from the app store, this means you can no longer download updates, meaning that over time the app will become glitchy and borderline unusable. You could still access the app through a VPN, though this will be illegal. 

How is TikTok responding? Well, they are not taking this lying down. In the past, they have challenged similar moves in court and they've confirmed that they will challenge this one as well, and they have also confirmed that they have no plans to sell the app. Shou Zi Chew, CEO of the company, has also made several statements voicing his displeasure at the recent events and doing his best to assure Americans that their data is safe. 

(TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew)

So, what happens next? The bill will be reviewed by the Senate, where it will have a long fight before it can be passed. President Biden has already confirmed he will sign the bill if it is given to him. Though many TikTokers in the US are concerned, there is still a lot that will have to happen for TikTok to be banned in the US.

Rick Stepp (calebstepp23@gmail.com)

Sources available upon request.