tiktok ban bill us: TikTok ban in US: Key bill passed, what will happen next?

TikTok ban in the US could soon become a reality after The House of Representatives passed a bill that have provisions to make social media inaccessible in America if Chinese investments are not divest of. The bill makes a strong case for stringent law, as per a report New York Post.
The TikTok legislation, which was included in a package of bills that would send aid to Ukraine and Israel, could become law as soon as next week if the Senate moves quickly.

Will TikTok be Banned?

In March, the House passed legislation that would require ByteDance, TikTok’s parent, to sell the platform within six months, or face a ban in the United States.

But some senators, including the Democratic Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, had expressed concerns that the six-month deadline would be too short to carry out a complex deal that could be worth tens of billions of dollars. Following negotiations with the Senate on the issue, the House included a modified version of the legislation in the foreign aid package.

The revised legislation would give ByteDance nine months to sell TikTok, and a possible three-month extension if a sale was in progress. The bill would also bar the company from controlling TikTok’s secret sauce: the algorithm that feeds users videos based off their interests.

Lawmakers from both parties — as well as law enforcement and intelligence officials — have long expressed concerns that Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over data on the 170 million Americans who use TikTok. The worry stems from a set of Chinese national security laws that compel organizations to assist with intelligence gathering – which ByteDance would likely be subject to – and other far-reaching ways the country’s authoritarian government exercises control.Opponents of the bill, though, counter that the Chinese government could easily get information on Americans in other ways, including through commercial data brokers that sell or rent personal information.President Joe Biden has said he will sign the TikTok legislation if it gets to his desk. If that does happen, it’s expected to be challenged by TikTok, which has sued to counter previous attempts to ban the platform both nationally and at the state level.

TikTok Defence, Reaction

TikTok sharply denounced the passage Saturday by the US House of Representatives of a bill that threatens to ban the popular social-media platform unless it severs its ties to Beijing.

The bill, passed on a bipartisan basis, “would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate seven million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the US economy annually,” a TikTok spokesman said.

Since mid-March, TikTok has spent more than $5 million on TV ads opposing the legislation, including in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Nevada and Ohio, according to AdImpact, an advertising tracking firm.

The company is also attempting to counter the bill by emphasizing its investments in data safety, and the positive impacts it has on the lives of content creators and small businesses who rely on it for income and have fostered a community on its platform.

FAQs:

Q1. Has TikTok Bill passed?
A1. Yes, TikTok Bill has been passed.

Q2. What will happen next?
A2. The TikTok legislation, which was included in a package of bills that would send aid to Ukraine and Israel, could become law as soon as next week if the Senate moves quickly.