Security News > 2024 > March > US politicians want ByteDance to sell off TikTok or face ban

A group of US lawmakers introduced legislation on Tuesday that, if passed, would force Chinese internet concern ByteDance to divest TikTok - its most valuable property - or see it banned in the US. The bill is titled the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.

Although the lawmakers - from The House Select Committee on the CCP with support from the Energy and Commerce Committee - seem hellbent on targeting TikTok, the bill also creates a process for the US president to designate other foreign adversary-controlled social media applications as national security risks.

"This bill is not a ban, and it's not really about TikTok. It's a choice. We implore ByteDance to sell TikTok so that its American users can enjoy their dance videos, their bad lip-sync, everything else that goes with TikTok," argued ranking member Raka Krishnamoorthi.

The chairman suggested that allowing a CCP-controlled entity like TikTok to become the dominant media player in the US would be like allowing Pravda and the KGB to buy The New York Times and other top US media outlets just before the Cuban Missile Crisis.

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As for TikTok itself, it took to Twitter/X to express the following: "This bill is an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors try to disguise it. This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs."

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/07/tiktok_divest_ban/