US to ban Chinese app TikTok citing national security threat unless ByteDance relinquishes stakes

Popular social media app TikTok can be banned in the United States of America (USA). The country’s Senate on April 23, 2024 voted to approve a bill to ban the Chinese app and unless its parent company Byte Dance sells its stakes in the app.

The development will likely result in court battle between the US and TikTok which argues that the legislation violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution. TikTok has its largest base in the US with over 170 million users.

The bill now will be sent to US President Joe Biden, who is considered to be a support of TikTok divest or ban measure and has said that he will sign it into law. The bill was initially passed by the US House of Representatives and sent to the Senate for its approval.

According to a story by the News Portal Variety, lawmakers have expressed concern about the app’s Chinese ownership suggesting that the country’s regime could use the app to encroach on American citizens privacy or put forward pro-Chinese propaganda.

Responding to the passage of the bill, the TikTok head of public policy of the US Micheal Beckerman said that the company will approach the court once the bill is signed into law. Beckerman also criticized the TikTok divest or ban measure as an unprecedented deal worked out between the Republican Speaker (Mike Johnson) and President Biden.

According to TikTok, if the bill becomes law, then it would infringe the free speech rights of its 170 million users in the US and devastate the estimated seven million American businesses on the platform. TikTok also contributes to 24 billion USD to the US economy every year. The US is not the first country to ban the TikTok app. In 2020, following the Galwan Clash with China, India also banned the TikTok citing national security reasons.

However, many still stay active and post on the app in India via the Virtual Private Network (VPN). The same would be the solution in the US if the app is eventually banned in the country. In November 2023, the Nepal government also banned the app citing security concerns. In addition, Australia, Canada, New Zealand have banned TikTok from federal government devices.