US House Passes Bill That Could Ban TikTok: Here's What Happens Next
Today, the United States House of Representatives passed Bill H.R.7521, also called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. The "foreign adversary controlled application" in question was TikTok, which is developed by ByteDance, a Chinese company. To quote the U.S. House of Representative's website, "This bill prohibits distributing, maintaining, or providing internet hosting services for a foreign adversary controlled application."
Such a bill would essentially ban TikTok from being downloaded in the United States, and prevent ByteDance from keeping the app updated and running. However, there is an important caveat. The bill would allow TikTok to keep living if ByteDance "executes a qualified divestiture as determined by the President."
Next, as with any bill, the bill needs to go through the United States Senate, where it will be voted on again. After that, President Joe Biden can then decide whether or not to sign the bill into law, veto it, or send it back through the House and Senate for further refinement or scrutiny. According to the Washington Post, the President has expressed support of the bill, and the administration has voiced concerns in the past.
Next stop, the Senate
Additionally, the bill allows for challenges. Anyone challenging the bill can present their case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia within 165 days, according to the House. If you're wondering whether or not TikTok is banned right now, the answer is no.
There are still a lot of moving parts to sort out before that happens, and an entire half of the Legislative Branch needs to hear the bill before the President can even make a decision. It's important to note that Congress has a long history with trying to ban TikTok, with bills attempting to ban its use on government-owned devices.
Either way, ByteDance has a choice to make: It can either sell TikTok to a U.S. based company and completely divest from its creation (and all the profit that entails), or maintain control of the app and risk getting booted from the States. For the average TikTok user, there's not much you can do in the meantime other than contacting your state's senator(s) and voicing your approval or disapproval of the bill.