The US House of Representatives recently passed the long-delayed Ukraine aid bill. But at the same time, it also approved a bill that would ban TikTok “if the video app is not sold by its Chinese owners,” NPR reported.
Although House members introduced a similar bill last month, this approach is different for two reasons. It is attached to a comprehensive foreign aid bill that provides aid to Ukraine and Israel. And it addressed concerns from some senators by extending the deadline for TikTok to find a buyer. President Biden supports this effort. That means TikTok could be forced to sell or be banned, and the legislation is moving quickly. This is the first time the U.S. government has passed a law that could shut down an entire social media platform, setting the stage for what is expected to be a lengthy legal battle… TikTok has set up a firewall between itself and its headquarters. Although the company says it was built in Los Angeles and its parent company is in Beijing, there are reports that US user data still moves between the two.
Although no evidence has been made public that Chinese government officials accessed Americans' information through TikTok, the idea that China has the theoretical ability to weaponize the app, which is used by half of Americans, is a sign of an all-out crackdown. That was enough to get started.