On Wednesday, March 13, the US House of Representatives supported a bill to ban TikTok in the United States. The project requires separating the video service from the Chinese parent company ByteDance within 6 months, and if this does not happen, TikTok will be banned in the country.
352 congressmen voted for the bill, 65 opposed. After that, it goes to the upper house, the Senate, where it may have to wait for some time due to more urgent matters. President Biden has already announced that he will sign the bill if it passes the Senate and lands on his desk.
“Communist China is America's largest geopolitical enemy and uses technology to actively undermine America's economy and security. Today's bipartisan vote demonstrates Congress's opposition to Communist China's attempts to spy on and manipulate Americans, as well as our resolve to restrain our enemies,” said Speaker Mike Johnson after the vote.
Against the bill voted 50 Democrats and 15 Republicans. Among them is the well-known supporter of Donald Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene, from the state of Georgia. Also, the chief Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, Representative Jim Himes, puzzled his colleagues with his vote against.
“They shut down newspapers, broadcasting stations, and social media platforms. We do not. We believe that our citizens are deserving of their democracy. We do not trust our government to decide what information they can or cannot see,” said Himes.
The vote took place against the backdrop of protests that have been ongoing in the US in recent days. Many entrepreneurs do business on TikTok, advertise there, and sell goods and services. For some, this is almost the only source of income.
Source: NBC News
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