The American House of Representatives adopted, on Wednesday March 13, by a large majority, a bill which provides for the banning of the social network TikTok in the United States if it does not cut its ties with its parent company, ByteDance, and , more broadly, with China. This is a major development for the platform, which did not seem threatened until a few days ago, even if the outcome of the upcoming vote in the Senate remains uncertain.
The text of the law, adopted by a large majority of 352 votes out of 432 elected officials, “does not ban TikTok,” argued the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, who voted in favor of the bill. proposal. “It aims to resolve legitimate national security and data protection concerns related to the Chinese Communist Party’s dealings with a social network,” he explained in a statement. “Letting TikTok continue to operate in the United States while it is under the control of the Chinese Communist Party is simply unacceptable,” former Republican Vice President Mike Pence also commented in a statement.
For several months, many American officials have believed that the short video platform allows Beijing to spy on and manipulate its 170 million users in the United States. Before the vote, China declared on Wednesday that a ban would “undermine the confidence of international investors” and would amount to “shooting itself in the foot” for the world’s leading power, according to a diplomatic spokesperson. Chinese, lambasting “intimidation” against TikTok. “The United States has never found evidence that TikTok threatens its national security,” Wang Wenbin recalled during a press briefing.
National security risk
The bill’s fate is uncertain in the Senate, where prominent figures oppose such a sweeping measure against a hugely popular app. President Joe Biden will, if it reaches his desk, sign this text, officially known as the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.” “], the White House said earlier in the week.
The measure would require ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to sell the app within 180 days or it would be barred from Apple and Google’s app stores in the United States. It would also give the president the power to designate other apps as threats to national security if they are controlled by a country considered hostile to the United States.
Several states and the federal government have banned use of the app on official government devices, citing national security risks. Washington’s renewed offensive against TikTok surprised the company, according to the Wall Street Journal. However, TikTok managers were reassured by the arrival in February on the platform of Joe Biden as part of his campaign for a second term.
TikTok categorically denies any connection to the Chinese government and has restructured the company so that US user data remains in the country. TikTok Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shou Zi Chew is in Washington, where he is trying to drum up support to block the bill.
Revirement de Donald Trump
Former President Donald Trump made a change of heart, saying on Monday that he was opposed to a ban, mainly because it would strengthen Meta, owner of Instagram and Facebook, which he described as an “enemy People “.
In 2020, the real estate developer, then President of the United States, attempted to wrest control of TikTok from ByteDance before being prevented from doing so by the American courts. Mr. Trump has refuted accusations that he changed his tune because a major investor in TikTok, Jeff Yass, threatened to no longer contribute to financing Republican election campaigns.
Other attempts to ban TikTok have also failed, with a bill proposed a year ago failing to pass, primarily due to free speech concerns.
As for the current proposal, “it is too general a text, which will not withstand the examination of the first amendment” to the American Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression, reacted the elected Democrat in the House Ro Khanna. A law adopted in May by the state of Montana (Northwest) to ban the platform was suspended by a federal court at the end of 2023 on the grounds that it violated constitutional rights to freedom of expression. “The other problem is that a lot of people make a living with this platform” in the United States, Ro Khanna added to journalists.
