WASHINGTON — The House voted Wednesday to pass legislation that could ban the TikTok, a popular video-sharing app, owned by a China-based company, in the United States if signed into law.
The final vote was 352-65, with one member, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) voting present. The bill now heads to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain fate as millions of TikTok users protest the move.
“The Senate will review the legislation when it comes over from the House,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a statement after the bill’s passage in the House.
“Communist China is America’s largest geopolitical foe and is using technology to actively undermine America’s economy and security,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in a statement after the vote.
“Today’s bipartisan vote demonstrates Congress’ opposition to Communist China’s attempts to spy on and manipulate Americans, and signals our resolve to deter our enemies,” he added.
In a rare show of unity, Democrats and Republicans joined together to vote for the bill to pass, including Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
TikTok, owned by China-based parent company ByteDance, has responded by slamming the bill. The company plans to mount a campaign to kill the bill, saying the move would violate the First Amendment rights of its 170 million U.S. users.
If enacted, the bill would give ByteDance six months to divest from TikTok before app stores would start prohibiting access.
President Joe Biden, whose 2024 campaign joined TikTok last month, has said that if the bill reaches his desk, he will sign it into law.
U.S. lawmakers and intelligence officials worry the Chinese government could use TikTok to access personal data from its users and use algorithms to show them videos that could influence their views, including in the November presidential election.
