The bill was heavily criticized on social media
The House of Representatives of USA will reconsider on Saturday a bill that would have banned TikTok in the US if the social network does not sever its ties to ByteDance’s parent company and China more broadly.
The measure is included in a series of texts aimed at freeing up funds for Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine, which could make it easier to pass both houses of Congress.
The bill would force ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to sell the app within months, or it would be banned from Apple and Google’s US app stores.
It would also give the US president the power to designate other apps as a national security threat if they are controlled by a country deemed hostile to the US.
The bill was strongly criticized by the TikTok.
“It is regrettable that the House of Representatives is using the pretext of important foreign and humanitarian aid to once again pass a ban bill that would violate the right to freedom of expression of 170 million Americans,” a spokesperson for the app told AFP. .
According to APE BEE, TikTok has been targeted by US authorities for months, with many officials estimating that the short video platform allows Beijing to spy on and manipulate its users in the US.
US President Joe Biden reiterated his “concern” about TikTok during a conversation with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in early April.
The House of Representatives has already approved a text in mid-March that provides for the ban on the application, but the text has since been pending in parliament.
