2024-04-22 08:56:06
The House of Representatives in the US Congress pressured the management of the Chinese social network “TikTok” to separate from its parent company – ByteDance, and in a broader sense from China with a second bill passed. Otherwise, the US authorities will ban the application in the country, CNN reported.
With this move, the House of Representatives issued an ultimatum to “TikTok”, tying the vote on the bill to the approved aid packages for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The surprise move greatly increases the chances that the legislation will be voted on quickly and receive final approval from President Joe Biden, as aid to Ukraine has been long delayed. And the presidential office is doing everything possible to have them released quickly.
The Senate has the power to separate the two bills, but that would require an additional vote, further delaying the process. Therefore, the plot is unlikely.
When the bill is finally approved by the Senate and the president, a 270-day period will begin in which the company must find a buyer for its American branch. The term can be extended by 90 days until a deal is concluded. After the final approval, “TikTok” will have to change its owner within a maximum of 1 year. Failure to comply with the condition may result in a ban on downloading the application from US stores and from the “internet hosting services” that support it.
US authorities accuse the platform of allowing Beijing to spy on and manipulate 170 million US users. Many other countries have already taken steps to ban the app, at least for government officials. Some of them are India, Australia, Canada, UK, New Zealand etc.