Bill Threatens TikTok Ban if Ownership Isn’t Changed Within 6 Months

The concerns over TikTok’s Chinese ownership have been brewing for some time now in Washington. A group of bipartisan lawmakers in Congress are taking matters into their own hands by introducing a bill that would force ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to divest the popular video app within the next six months or face an outright ban in the United States.

Led by Representative Mike Gallagher and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, over a dozen members of Congress are sponsoring this legislative action. They view ByteDance’s control over TikTok as a national security threat that cannot be ignored any longer given the influence the platform has gained in America, with over 170 million users.

If passed, the bill would give ByteDance a deadline of 165 days to sell off TikTok to a non-Chinese buyer. Failing that, it would prohibit all the major app stores run by Apple, Google, and others from offering TikTok for download or hosting its internet traffic. The goal is to strip ByteDance of its ownership over the app within the United States.

Unsurprisingly, TikTok characterized this legislation as an “outright ban” that would infringe on the free speech rights of millions of its creators and business users. However, the Biden administration signaled support for the Congress members’ effort to address the situation, pledging to reinforce the legal framework of the bill going forward.

With all the major tech firms based in the United States, proponents argue that a platform like TikTok handling huge amounts of Americans’ personal data should not remain under the influence and control of China’s Communist government. After last year’s attempt to ban TikTok stalled in Congress, this new bill presents the strongest legislative push yet to resolve TikTok’s Chinese ownership controversy once and for all.