The United States House of Representatives has set a fast-track vote next week on legislation that would give China’s ByteDance six months to divest from short video app TikTok or face a U.S. ban after a committee unanimously approved the measure Thursday.
The Energy and Commerce Committee 50-0 vote represents the most significant momentum for a U.S. crackdown on TikTok, which has about over one hundred million U.S. users since former President Donald Trump unsuccessfully tried to ban the app in 2020.
Prior efforts had stalled over the last year amid heavy lobbying by the company.
TikTok, which says it has not and would not share U.S. user data with the Chinese government, argues the bill amounts to a ban as it is unclear if China would approve any sale, or that it could be divested in six months.
Meanwhile, TikTok users were flooding Capitol Hill with phone calls urging lawmakers not to back the measure after the app warned users it could be banned.
Join our twitter community :