THE U.S. House of Representatives has passed a landmark bill that could ban TikTok in America.
“The yays are 352, the nays are 65, one present, two-thirds being in the affirmative. The rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without the objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. gavel sound,” Beth Van Duyne, Speaker Pro Tempore said.
The US House of Representatives has passed HR 7521, a bill requiring China-based ByteDance Limited to sell its stake in TikTok or face a total ban on the social media app.
The bill passed overwhelmingly by 352 votes in favor and 65 against in a bipartisan vote.
However, it still needs to clear the Senate and then be signed by US President Joe Biden into law.
It can be noted that Biden supports this bill and has promised to sign it as soon as it lands on his desk.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin slammed US’s “gangster logic” and said that Washington had found no evidence that TikTok was a threat to national security He also warned that a potential ban will ‘eventually backfire’.
“The bill passed by the House of Representatives puts the United States on the opposite side of fair competition and international trade rules. If so-called ‘national security’ can be used arbitrarily to suppress outstanding enterprises from other countries, there is no fairness or justice. When you see something good in someone else, you try to get it for yourself. This is the logic of a bandit,” said Wang Wenbin, Spokesperson, Chinese Foreign Ministry.
The White House has publicly backed the measure, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre calling on lawmakers to ‘see this bill get done’.
Meanwhile, Tiktok accused US senators of staging what it calls as a predetermined vote to ban the social media platform in the US and is trying to strip 170 million Americans of their constitutional right to free expression.
“This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States. The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression,” according to of TikTok.
