Featured photo by Jorge Avila
Story by RJ Ware
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The United States House of Representatives passed a bill last Wednesday that would force the Chinese company ByteDance to either sell or ban the social media app in the U.S.
Many Democrats and Republicans united to pass the bill with broad bipartisan support, 352 to 65. It is the culmination of a years-long battle between the U.S. government and one of the most popular social media apps in the world.
The move is the first time a chamber of Congress has approved a measure that could ban a social media platform. President Biden has indicated that if the Senate passes the bill, he will sign it into law.
However, the bill faces an uphill battle in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not committed to bringing it to the floor, as many senators have vowed to fight the measure.
Lawmakers argue that China’s relationship with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is a threat to national security. If passed into law, the bill would compel ByteDance to sell TikTok within the next six months or be banned from app stores in the United States.
Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher, one the sponsors of the bill, called the move, “A common-sense measure to protect our national security.”
The bill also represents the deepening tension between the U.S. and China over control of technological power around the world. Before the vote, Chinese officials blasted the action by U.S. lawmakers and argued that TikTok does not pose a threat to the U.S.
“This kind of bullying behavior that cannot win in fair competition, disrupts companies’ normal business activity, damages the confidence of international investors in the investment environment, and damages the normal international economic and trade order,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.
Wang also warned, “In the end this will inevitably come back to bite the United States.”
TikTok also fired back at the move, criticizing Republicans for fast-tracking the bill.
“This process was secret, and the bill was jammed through for one reason: It’s a ban,” TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek said.
Currently, TikTok has an estimated 170 million users in the United States. The potential ban also has implications for students, as young adults are the most popular demographic that use TikTok.
Last April, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a law that prohibits Tennessee public higher education institutions, including Middle Tennessee State University, to allow access to social media platforms on the institution’s network that are hosted and operated in China.
The next day, MTSU shut down access for students, faculty, and staff to TikTok on the campus server. You can still access TikTok on an individual personal network connection or a third party network.
MTSU students have voiced opposition to the House Bill, believing the measure is unnecessary. Freshman Rachel Charlton argues lawmakers are focusing on the wrong issues.
“I don’t feel they are worried about the right issues right now,” Charlton said. “I feel that society will just find another app to get popular just like when the app Vine was deleted.”
The future of TikTok is unknown, but former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that he was assembling a team of investors to make a bid to buy TikTok.
RJ Ware is a contributing writer for MTSU Sidelines.
To contact News Editor Alyssa Williams and Assistant News Editor Zoe Naylor, email newseditor@mtsusidelines.com.
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