The US House of Representatives has just passed a bill that would allow Washington to ban TikTok for national security reasons.
On March 1, the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee passed a bill allowing the administration of President Joe Biden to ban TikTok with 24 votes in favor, and 16 votes against. The Chinese video-sharing software now has over 100 million users in the US.
The bill does not specify how the ban will be implemented, but “opens the door” for the government to ban any platform-related transactions deemed to be a risk to national security. If the ban is issued, individuals living in the US cannot access and download the TikTok application to mobile devices and use it.
In addition to TikTok, the bill would also require the Biden administration to impose a similar order on “any entity” capable of transferring sensitive personal data to a Chinese-influenced entity.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (Republican) said: “TikTok is a threat to national security. Anyone who downloads TikTok opens a ‘backdoor’ to access to information. their personal information”. Mr. McCaul also likened this to “spy balloon on the phone”, referring to the issues related to the recent shooting down of spy balloons in the US.
Biden’s cabinet has not yet given a specific position on the bill. But before being presented to the President for signature, the bill needs to be passed in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre commented: “TikTok creates trouble and we need to be concerned because it involves US data.”
Before the US move, TikTok’s side said that banning this platform means banning the export of American culture and values to billions of users of this application globally. But not only the US, the West, in general, is also increasingly monitoring this application due to concerns about the collection of personal data.
In late February, Washington ordered the government agency to remove TikTok from all federal systems and devices within 30 days. More than 30 states in the US, Canada, and many agencies of the European Union (EU) also ban TikTok from being uploaded to public devices.