TikTok, a short-form video app with the largest reach, which belongs to the Chinese company ByteDance, has been under many criticisms and had to be banned in several countries over privacy and national security issues. States such as India, Afghanistan, Taiwan, and Pakistan have taken partial or total actions to ban the app due to serious concerns on data sharing between the private company and the China government .
The European Union, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia have also banned TikTok on government devices.
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The TikTok Crackdown Bill Key Points
In the United States, a bipartisan bill known as the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” was introduced in March 2024. The bill is designed to address the national security problems that may result from TikTok’s Chinese ownership.
- Allowing ByteDance 165 days to offload its stake in TikTok.
- Banning ByteDance-related apps from US app stores, including TikTok, if the ties to China are not cut off.
- Building a mechanism through which the President may designate the foreign-controlled social media apps as national security risks.
What is the Current Status of Tiktok Ban Bill
On March 8, 2024, the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a unanimous vote backed the TikTok crackdown bill, which shows that congressional action against the app is gaining momentum. The bill is likely to be on the House floor for a vote during the next week.
If it passes and is signed, Tiktok could be banned all over the United States unless ByteDance sells the app. This, in turn, would affect TikTok's 170 million US users and stop the creators who depend on the platform from making a living.
How TikTok Users Responded to the Ban
As news of the bill’s progress spread, TikTok launched a campaign urging its US users to oppose the legislation. The app served full-screen pop-ups warning of a potential ban and prompting users to contact their representatives.
This led to a flood of calls to congressional offices, with some reporting confusion among constituents about the reasons behind the proposed ban. TikTok argues that the bill infringes on free expression and would cause significant harm to its user base.
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What is the timeline for the tiktok crackdown bill to become law?
The US Government is working around TikTok getting banned if everything does not go in TikTok’s favor.
On the 7th of March, a committee in the US House of Representatives voted unanimously in favor of the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” with 50-0.Quite a mouthful, right?
Coming week, approximately March 13th to 17th, the entire House is expected to vote this bill on. If the bill gets passed, it will allow ByteDance that owns TikTok up to 165 days (around 6 months) to sell off or divest its ownership of TikTok. If they don’t manage this within that period, there is a high chance that TikTok will be banned in the US.Yikes!
However, that is not the end of the tale.
Furthermore, if House passed this bill, it then needs to go to Senate for a second vote, before it works as a law. The timing of the Senate vote remains unclear but it will likely take place a few weeks or months after the House approval, should it get that far.
And after both the House and Senate have passed the bill, it is then sent to the President who has the ability to sign it into law, in turn, making it official.
So the potential timeline looks something like this:
- House Vote: Next week (about March 13-17)
- Senate Vote: Unknown right now, probably weeks or months if House passes it.
- President’s Signature: Once passed both chambers, the law goes to the President.
But, it’s still a kind of uncertain issue, as the bill might be voted down in the Senate, and the President has veto or even rejective power over it. Nonetheless, the fact that the House vote takes place next week as well as strong momentum to curb the use of TikTok in the US here is a big deal.
What is the likelihood of the tiktok crackdown bill becoming law?
The White House (the president’s office) has indicated that it backs this bill, which almost makes it sure that the bill will be passed into law.
However, TikTok is fighting back strongly against the bill suggesting that it is an irretrievable abolition that would violate the citizens’ freedom of speech.
It is always challenging to approve any part during an election year, so the legislature receives the support of both parties to deal with the national security risks as the Chinese ownership.
Therefore, we should consider the House vote next week as a major milestone, but not before the procedure of the bill finally turning into law is settled definitely. It may take several more weeks or even months. It is a dynamic and fluid situation thus all the possibilities can be imagined.
What are the arguments for and against the tiktok crackdown bill?
This is the main line of argumentation against the TikTok ban bill, referred to as the RESTRICT Act.
Arguments in favor of the TikTok crackdown bill:
- National security concerns: One of the examples is individuals querying the possibility of technological surveillance and the ability to influence and manipulate information which are against the national security.
- Privacy concerns: Following the parentheses with worry of users’ information to be collected by TikTok and eventually transferred into the Chinese government, the security of American privacy could be compromised.
- Protecting ideas: As it is stated, China could also take the ideas of big American companies and American people and there is a great possibility that this could affect American progress and businesses.
- Acknowledging: past efforts advocates of the bill often refer to the fact that the ban was previously attempted by the Trump administration in 2020. Though those initiatives would be judicially halted, they believe it shows the need for the creation of august regulations that tackle this subject.
Arguments against the TikTok crackdown bill:
- Speech freedom mess: Critics are doubtful whether the bill can resist providing the reason for censorship and ends up by infringing the freedom of speech. They see it as a possible problem if the ban will be a precedent to stop other apps and platforms with future restrictions.
- Lack of solid evidence: Some people argue that they do not have enough concrete evidence or proof that TikTok has been used by China for its political purposes. They do not believe those concerns are based on logic because more on guesses than on real facts.
- A potential competitor of TikTok, is a loss of new ideas and competition in the tech world, which could only resource a few big, already established companies rather than everyone else.
- Concerns of retaliation: It is not certain what TikTok might do if the U.S. provides sanctions for it, but there’s a possibility that China can respond to it in a way that involves hitting back at American companies in China, which in turn will cause the countries problems.
- There is no more guarantee of effectiveness: Even if TikTok is made to be banned or restricted, people can still create ways to be able to have access to it, meanwhile making the bill not very effective in the end.
The TikTok ban bill deliberation mainly revolves on these premises. It’s a huge issue that everyone is conversing about, be it any actor, lawmakers, tech companies, and groups who feel people’s rights are being invaded
What is next?
Although the TikTok closure bill has been approved by the Senate, it still needs both the House and Senate to approve it before it can reach President Biden’s desk. While the White House signifies its support of the bill, its final outcome however, remains ambiguous. While the discussion goes on, decision-makers are supposed to combine national security objectives with rights and interests of millions of American TikTok users.
Conclusion
The immensity of this law may pave the way for the government to regulate foreign-owned social media in the country with the coming years.
