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BUSINESS EYE MARCH 22, 2024 | The Indian Eye 39

TECH T@LK

All eyes on Senate after House passes bill to ban TikTok in US

Beijing calls it an “act of bullying” that will “backfire” on the US

OUR BUREAU the app’s ‘national security concerns’.
Last year, Senate lawmakers proposed legisla-
San Francisco, CA
tion clamping down on TikTok but triggered con-
he US House of Representatives passed a cerns that it could give the executive branch too
bill on Wednesday that could ban Chinese much power.
Tsocial media TikTok for US users, CNN re- Efforts to ban TikTok date back to the Trump
ported. But the fate of the bill lies in the US Sen- administration, which used a series of executive or-
ate. A bill needs to pass in both the House and the ders to try to force app stores not to offer TikTok
Senate before it can be sent to the president to be and to compel ByteDance to spin off the company.
signed into law. At the US House, the vote was 352- China has condemned the bill passed on
65, with 15 Republicans and 50 Democrats voting Wednesday in the US House of Representatives,
against the bill. which could potentially ban Chinese social media
Notably, India was one of the first countries to TikTok for users in America, with Beijing terming
ban TikTok, citing ‘security concerns’. it as an “act of bullying” that will backfire on the
The Union government banned TikTok, along US, CNN reported.
with several other Chinese apps, in June 2020 over “Even though the US has not found evidence
‘national security concerns’. Before the ban, the on how TikTok endangers its national security, it
app had about 150 million monthly active users in has never stopped going after TikTok,” Chinese
India. Following this, Nepal also announced a ban TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testifies before US Congress in Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin said
on the China-owned video-sharing app TikTok, cit- Washington, DC (File photo) in a news conference in Beijing today.
ing its negative efforts on ‘social harmony’. The Chinese foreign ministry reaction came
Chinese social media platform TikTok does Reacting over the ban, TikTok said in a state- just hours before the House of Representatives
not have any provisions to remove offensive con- ment that its attention would now shift to the Sen- voted on legislation that would force TikTok’s Chi-
tent. TikTok is already banned in over 50 countries. ate, where the fate of the legislation is unclear. nese owner, ByteDance, to sell the popular short
Notably, the passage of the bill through the It slammed House lawmakers’ fast-tracking video app to an American company -- or face be-
GOP-controlled House comes as former President of the bill and their decision to hold a closed-door ing barred from the US market, where it has over
Donald Trump has signalled opposition to a ban. briefing for members last week that highlighted 170 million users.

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