Sat, April 20, 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House passed legislation Saturday that would ban TikTok in the United States if the popular social media platform's China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake within a year, but don't expect the app to go away anytime soon.
The decision by House Republicans to include TikTok as part of a larger foreign aid package, a priority for President Joe Biden with broad congressional support for Ukraine and Israel, fast-tracked the ban after an earlier version had stalled in the Senate. A standalone bill with a shorter, six-month selling deadline passed the House in March by an overwhelming bipartisan vote as both Democrats and Republicans voiced national security concerns about the app’s owner, the Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd.
The modified measure, passed by a 360-58 vote, now goes to the Senate after negotiations that lengthened the timeline for the company to sell to nine months, with a possible additional three months if a sale is in progress.
Legal challenges could extend that timeline even further. The company has indicated that it would likely go to court to try and block the law if it passes, arguing it would deprive the app’s millions of users of their First Amendment rights.
TikTok has lobbied hard against the legislation, pushing the app’s 170 million U.S. users — many of whom are young — to call Congress and voice opposition. But the ferocity of the pushback angered lawmakers on Capitol Hill, where there is broad concern about Chinese threats to the U.S. and where few members use the platform themselves.
“We will not stop fighting and advocating for you,” TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said in a video that was posted on the platform last month and directed toward the app’s users. “We will continue to do all we can, including exercising our legal rights, to protect this amazing platform that we have built with you.”
The bill’s quick path through Congress is extraordinary because it targets one company and because Congress has taken a hands-off approach to tech regulation for decades. Lawmakers had failed to act despite efforts to protect children online, safeguard users’ privacy and make companies more liable for content posted on their platforms, among other measures. But the TikTok ban reflects widespread concerns from lawmakers about China.
Members of both parties, along with intelligence officials, have worried that Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over American user data or direct the company to suppress or boost TikTok content favorable to its interests. TikTok has denied assertions that it could be used as a tool of the Chinese government and has said it has not shared U.S. user data with Chinese authorities.
The U.S. government has not publicly provided evidence that shows TikTok shared U.S. user data with the Chinese government or tinkered with the company’s popular algorithm, which influences what Americans see.
The company has good reason to think a legal challenge could be successful, having seen some success in previous legal fights over its operations in the U.S.. In November, a federal judge blocked a Montana law that would ban TikTok use across the state after the company and five content creators who use the platform sued.
In 2020, federal courts blocked an executive order issued by then-President Donald Trump to ban TikTok after the company sued on the grounds that the order violated free speech and due process rights. His administration brokered a deal that would have had U.S. corporations Oracle and Walmart take a large stake in TikTok. The sale never went through for a number of reasons; one was China, which imposed stricter export controls on its technology providers.
Dozens of states and the federal government have put in place TikTok bans on government devices. Texas’ ban was challenged last year by The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which argued in a lawsuit that the policy was impeding academic freedom because it extended to public universities. In December, a federal judge ruled in favor of the state.
Organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union have backed the app. “Congress cannot take away the rights of over 170 million Americans who use TikTok to express themselves, engage in political advocacy, and access information from around the world,” said Jenna Leventoff, a lawyer for the group.
Since mid-March, TikTok has spent $5 million on TV ads opposing the legislation, according to AdImpact, an advertising tracking firm. The ads have included a range of content creators, including a nun, extolling the positive impacts of the platform on their lives and arguing a ban would trample on the First Amendment. The company has also encouraged its users to contact Congress, and some lawmakers have received profanity-laced calls.
“It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the U.S. economy, annually,” said Alex Haurek, a spokesman for the company.
California Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat, voted against the legislation. He said he thinks there could have been less restrictive ways to go after the company that wouldn't result in a total ban or threaten free speech.
“I think it’s not going to be well received,” Khanna said. “It’s a sign of the Beltway being out of touch with where voters are.”
Nadya Okamoto, a content creator who has roughly 4 million followers on TikTok, said she has been having conversations with other creators who are experiencing “so much anger and anxiety” about the bill and how it’s going to impact their lives. The 26-year-old, whose company “August” sells menstrual products and is known for her advocacy around destigmatizing menstrual periods, makes most of her income from TikTok.
“This is going to have real repercussions,” she said.
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Hadero reported from New York.
Mary Clare Jalonick And Haleluya Hadero, The Associated Press
TikTok Divest-or-Ban Bill Expected to Become US Law in Days
Steven T. Dennis and Alex Barinka
Sat, April 20, 2024
(Bloomberg) -- The US House on Saturday put legislation forcing TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance Ltd. to divest its ownership stake on a fast track to become law, tying it to a crucial aid package for Ukraine and Israel.
A massive lobbying effort led by TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Chew failed to overcome a bipartisan coalition worried about the app’s collection of data on more than 170 million Americans — and the potential for the Chinese government to use it to disseminate propaganda.
The broad legislation, which passed on a 360 to 58 vote, also would place new restrictions on data brokers selling information to foreign adversaries and authorize the confiscation of frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine.
The Senate is expected to vote on the measure next week and President Joe Biden has said he will sign the legislation.
“This bill protects Americans and especially America’s children from the malign influence of Chinese propaganda on the app TikTok. This app is a spy balloon in Americans’ phones,” said bill author Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican.
Opponents of the bill like Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, could still try to strip out the TikTok measure in the Senate, but such efforts aren’t likely to be successful.
ByteDance intends to exhaust all legal challenges before it considers any kind of divestiture if the TikTok ban becomes law, according to people familiar with the matter.
“It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the U.S. economy, annually,” a TikTok spokesperson said Saturday.
Years of scrutiny over TikTok’s connection to China spans presidential administrations, political parties and arms of the government. Former President Donald Trump tried to ban the app via an executive order that was set aside under Biden, whose administration oversaw a review by the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States.
Multiple bipartisan ban bills were proposed in Congress and then forgotten. The divest-or-ban framework seems to have finally threaded the needle.
The legislation passed Saturday gives ByteDance nearly a year to divest itself of the social media platform, with 90 of those days subject to a presidential waiver — longer than the six-month time frame in a version of the legislation the House passed earlier this year.
That extended deadline means TikTok won’t have to divest or be shut down before the election, to the dismay of some lawmakers who say they worry China could use the app to meddle in US politics.
TikTok rose to prominence during the pandemic as a place to share entertaining, short videos without the expectation of perfection that hangs over apps like Instagram. It’s algorithmically-curated feed tailored based on peoples’ interests — not who they follow — was a new, captivating way to scroll on social media. That idea has since been copied by Meta and Alphabet’s YouTube.
TikTok has argued that the legislation would violate the First Amendment and pointed to their spending $1.5 billion-plus on data privacy efforts to try to allay national security concerns. TikTok has brought creators and small business owners to the US Capitol to argue they say would suffer economic losses without TikTok.
They’ve also encouraged users to call their lawmakers to urge them to vote against the bill. The company hired well-known lobbyists to try and sway lawmakers. So far, none of it has been enough.
Bloomberg Businessweek
Steven T. Dennis and Alex Barinka
Sat, April 20, 2024
(Bloomberg) -- The US House on Saturday put legislation forcing TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance Ltd. to divest its ownership stake on a fast track to become law, tying it to a crucial aid package for Ukraine and Israel.
A massive lobbying effort led by TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Chew failed to overcome a bipartisan coalition worried about the app’s collection of data on more than 170 million Americans — and the potential for the Chinese government to use it to disseminate propaganda.
The broad legislation, which passed on a 360 to 58 vote, also would place new restrictions on data brokers selling information to foreign adversaries and authorize the confiscation of frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine.
The Senate is expected to vote on the measure next week and President Joe Biden has said he will sign the legislation.
“This bill protects Americans and especially America’s children from the malign influence of Chinese propaganda on the app TikTok. This app is a spy balloon in Americans’ phones,” said bill author Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican.
Opponents of the bill like Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, could still try to strip out the TikTok measure in the Senate, but such efforts aren’t likely to be successful.
ByteDance intends to exhaust all legal challenges before it considers any kind of divestiture if the TikTok ban becomes law, according to people familiar with the matter.
“It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the U.S. economy, annually,” a TikTok spokesperson said Saturday.
Years of scrutiny over TikTok’s connection to China spans presidential administrations, political parties and arms of the government. Former President Donald Trump tried to ban the app via an executive order that was set aside under Biden, whose administration oversaw a review by the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States.
Multiple bipartisan ban bills were proposed in Congress and then forgotten. The divest-or-ban framework seems to have finally threaded the needle.
The legislation passed Saturday gives ByteDance nearly a year to divest itself of the social media platform, with 90 of those days subject to a presidential waiver — longer than the six-month time frame in a version of the legislation the House passed earlier this year.
That extended deadline means TikTok won’t have to divest or be shut down before the election, to the dismay of some lawmakers who say they worry China could use the app to meddle in US politics.
TikTok rose to prominence during the pandemic as a place to share entertaining, short videos without the expectation of perfection that hangs over apps like Instagram. It’s algorithmically-curated feed tailored based on peoples’ interests — not who they follow — was a new, captivating way to scroll on social media. That idea has since been copied by Meta and Alphabet’s YouTube.
TikTok has argued that the legislation would violate the First Amendment and pointed to their spending $1.5 billion-plus on data privacy efforts to try to allay national security concerns. TikTok has brought creators and small business owners to the US Capitol to argue they say would suffer economic losses without TikTok.
They’ve also encouraged users to call their lawmakers to urge them to vote against the bill. The company hired well-known lobbyists to try and sway lawmakers. So far, none of it has been enough.
Bloomberg Businessweek
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