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The House voted on Wednesday in favour of a bill to require TikTok to discerp its connection with parent company ByteDance or face a Bachelor of Arts in Nursing , move the legislation forth with surprising upper . President Joe Biden has already said that he wouldsupportthe legislation , but TikTok faces an uncertain lot as the bill heads to the Senate .
The poster received bipartisan backing with a 352 - 65 vote .
TikTok say in astatement , “ We are promising that the Senate will consider the fact , heed to their constituents , and realize the impact on the economy , 7 million small businesses , and the 170 million Americans who habituate our service . ”
The bill ’s booster decline to identify it as a “ Bachelor of Arts in Nursing , ” but if passed it would produce two possible outcomes . In one scenario , TikTok strikes a deal to split with its Chinese possession within six month and continue to go in the U.S. under that arrangement . In the more dire termination , ByteDance refuses to sell TikTok and it becomes illegal for software marketplaces like Apple ’s App Store and Google Play to circulate the software system in the U.S.
Our argument on today ’s House vote : This process was secret and the bill was jammed through for one reason : it ’s a proscription . We are hopeful that the Senate will take the fact , heed to their constituents , and realize the impact on the economy , 7 million small businesses , and …
— TikTok Policy ( @TikTokPolicy)March 13 , 2024
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The design to force ByteDance to sell TikTok began during the Trump organization as an executive order . Oracle and Microsoft both had their chapeau in the annulus at the time , but ultimately the plot to force a sales agreement unraveled as former President Donald Trump left the White House . Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella laterdescribedthe whole ordeal as the “ strange thing I ’ve ever worked on . ”
Trump has since changed his tune . While asseverate that TikTok still poses a national security risk , Trump nowopposesthe banning , at least in part because Facebook stands to benefit from regard its biggest competitor regulated . “ Without TikTok , you could make Facebook bigger , and I regard Facebook to be an enemy of the people , ” Trump said .
Other Republican legislator echoed Trump ’s Modern stance . Representative Thomas Massie ( R - KY ) remarked that the bill “ could also be named the Facebook Protection and Enhancement Act . ”
In opposition , Representative Sydney Kamlager - Dove ( D - IL ) verbalise about the impact that the bill could have on creatives and small businesses .
“ Creatives , artist , mental object Almighty and businesses in my territory will get caught in the crossfire of this poster and merit better than federal overreach as a substitute for a thoughtful and incisive solvent , ” Kamlager - Dove order on the House story .
This is similar to the persuasion that TikTok itself has been pushing since last yr , when it broughtcontent creatorsto lobby in the Capitol to counterbalance a ban .
irrespective of how Wednesday ’s voting played out in the House , the posting ’s fate in the Senate is yet to be determined . While many of his peers have yet to librate in , Kentucky Senator Rand Paul has stated hisoppositionto a Senate translation of the bill . “ I do n’t think Congress should be trying to take away the First Amendment rights of [ 170 ] million Americans , ” Paul told The Washington Post .
With an election around the corner , it ’s very possible that the Senate would n’t have the appetite for going after TikTok — even with President Biden backing the legislation . Without a companion flier in the Senate , the House ’s efforts would be doomed to shillyshally .
China has also previously stated that it would react a forced sale of TikTok , which is well within its rights after anupdate to the country ’s export rulesin former 2020 .
The bill ’s quick progression out of citizens committee last week to a full House vote appears to have caught TikTok by surprise . The company jumble to rally its 170 million U.S. drug user to its side , sending a message directly through the app that urged them to call their representative . TikTok CEO Shou Chew also head to Capitol Hill todrum up oppositionto the bill before Wednesday ’s vote .
This news report is developing …
China cue US that it can and will kill a forced TikTok sale
‘ So exasperate ’ : TikTokers are fuming over possible ban
