- House to vote Tuesday on bill that could ban TikTok in US
TikTok users are lobbying lawmakers in the US to oppose a legislation that might lead to a ban on the Chinese-owned platform.
The bill scheduled for a vote this week has bipartisan support and would require ByteDance, the Chinese corporation that controls TikTok, to either relinquish its ownership in the United States or face a ban.
The bill will be voted on by the whole House on Tuesday.
Despite TikTok’s more than 150 million American users, there are ongoing concerns over China’s possible access to user data.
The site urged its users to contact Congress to reject the bill, prompting members’ staff to answer countless phone calls.
“This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs,” the company said in a statement.
During an appearance on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday,” Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., underlined the need of the measure.
“We do not want the Chinese Communist Party to have control over the algorithm, which dominates so much of our political conversation. But it’s really about families, parents, and children vs Big Tech’s greed,” he remarked.
Auchincloss continued, “They have been spreading misinformation, and Congress must step in and control them. They must act responsibly as members of the American political system. But we can’t do that unless these firms follow US law.”
Former President Donald Trump, who earlier supported a TikTok ban, now opposes the proposed law. He cited Facebook’s ban on him during the January 6, 2021 rioting in the United States Capitol as evidence of his opposition to the law.
“If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will treble their revenue. I do not want Facebook, which cheated in the previous election, to perform better. “They are a true enemy of the people!” the author stated on Truth Social.
On Thursday, the bill sailed overwhelmingly through the United States House Energy and Commerce Committee.
President Joe Biden has stated that he will sign the law if it reaches his desk.
