The US could effectively ban the popular short video app TikTok following escalating tensions with the Chinese-based app. On 13 March, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that would give ByteDance (the Chinese owner of TikTok) around six months to divest the US assets of the app or face a ban in the USA.
However, Rep. Mike Gallagher, the chair of the House Select Committee on China and the lead GOP sponsor of the bipartisan bill, said the bill does not mean a ban on TikTok.
“What we’re after is, it’s not a ban, it’s a forced separation. The TikTok user experience can continue and improve so long as ByteDance doesn’t own the company.”
TikTok has said that banning a “social media platform would amount to a violation of the free speech rights of millions of Americans.”
American fans of the platform have been up in arms over the potential decision, as this hilarious video by Morning Brew demonstrates.
CNN reported the following on the bill:
“Why the bill passed: Lawmakers supportive of the bill have argued TikTok poses a national security threat because the Chinese government could use its intelligence laws against TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, forcing it to hand over the data of US app users
What the legislation would do: The bill would prohibit TikTok from US app stores unless the social media platform — used by roughly 170 million Americans — is spun off from ByteDance. The bill would give ByteDance roughly five months to sell TikTok. If not divested by that time, it would be illegal for app store operators such as Apple and Google to make it available for download.”
BBC noted that if the bill gets approval in the Senate, President Joe Biden said he would sign it as soon as he receives it – which could mean an impending diplomatic spat with China.
“Chinese companies are subject to a national security law requiring them to share data with the government on request.”
“A ban on TikTok will hand an effective monopoly to Meta’s Reels – the company’s short-form video product. That means Meta is the likely beneficiary of TikTok’s ad revenue in a TikTok-less world, as well,” Forrester vice president and research director Mike Proulx said.Nearly one-third of teenagers in the USA use Reels at least weekly. A ban on TikTok would result in Reels (on Facebook and Instagram) and YouTube Shorts being the available social media channels to provide short-form videos, Proulx said.
This bill will likely not affect the use of TikTok in South Africa and is limited to the USA.
This bill applies to TikTok users in the USA, so South African users of the app need not worry – they will still be able to access and use TikTok as they please, though they’ll likely see less content from American content creators if this bill is passed.
