2024-04-22 05:09:56
Social network TikTok has today again argued against its potential ban in the United States. According to her, this would violate the right to freedom of speech of up to 170 million Americans who use the network. On Saturday, the US House of Representatives adopted a law that could lead to a ban due to fears of leakage putting Americans in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.
TikTok is owned by China-based ByteDance, although user data has always been stored in the United States or Singapore, according to the network’s head Shou Zi Chew.
On Saturday, congressmen approved the law in question by a majority of 360 to 58 votes and thus sent it to the Senate for discussion. The proposal, called the “Peace Through Strength in the 21st Century Act,” also empowers the president to enact sweeping sanctions against Iran and allows Russian officials or the government to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine’s resistance to Russian invasion.
TikTok’s parent company, China’s ByteDance, has a nine-month deadline to sell its stake in the social network. The president’s office can extend the deadline by three months if it considers that the company has made progress in trying to sell the stake, Reuters reports. The law passed in quick succession on Saturday along with bills on foreign military aid to Ukraine, Israel and America’s partners in Southeast Asia.
“It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using significant foreign aid legislation as a cover to push through a bill that would trample on the free speech of 170 million Americans,” TikTok said in a statement today. The company has previously said it has never shared US data with Chinese authorities and would never do so.
While supporters of the law worry about Chinese espionage, data leaks and Chinese propaganda that they say has an easier way into American cellphones, opponents say that China and other rivals of the United States can now buy American data from intermediaries and use it for disinformation campaigns. Therefore, according to them, the enforcement of the law does not make general sense. In addition to TikTok, some Democrats also doubt the legality of the proposal; Congresswoman Ro Khanna told ABC News today that a ban on TikTok might not hold up in court, citing the US Constitution’s First Amendment right to free speech.
According to Reuters, US senators could vote on the bill in the coming days. President Joe Biden has indicated that he would sign it.