The US Congress- House of Representatives passed legislation today (Saturday) that will officially ban TikTok in the United States.
Under the law passed, TikTok will be banned from being used in the US unless the popular social media platform’s China-based owner, ByteDance Ltd, sells its stake within a year.
The law was approved with 360 votes in favor and 58 against and now passes for final approval in the US Senate, reports noa.al citing AP.
The company responded by stating that the law will go to court because it is being sought to deprive the app’s 170 million US users of their First Amendment rights.
The legal initiative came as authorities in the US, and intelligence officials in particular, are concerned that Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over US user data or direct the company to increase TikTok’s content in favor of its own interests.
TikTok has denied claims it could be used as a tool of the Chinese government and has said it has not shared US user data with Chinese authorities.
In 2020, federal courts blocked an executive order issued by then-President Donald Trump to ban TikTok. The block came after the company sued Mr. Trump on the grounds that the order violated free speech and due process rights.
