WASHINGTON: The United States House of Representatives (DPR) plans to vote on a bill on Wednesday (March 13) that would give TikTok owner ByteDance about six months to divest the short video app used by some 170 million Americans or face a ban .
A vote is expected around 10 a.m. local time under fast-track rules that require the support of two-thirds of House members for a measure to pass.
The vote came just over a week after the bill was introduced and after one public hearing with little debate. Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 50-0 in favor of the bill, setting it up for a vote before the full House floor.
The FBI, Justice Department and Office of the director of national intelligence held a classified briefing for House members on Tuesday.
“We’ve answered many questions from members. We held a confidential briefing today so members can see in more detail about what’s at risk and how the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) could harm American families,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will visit Capitol Hill on Wednesday to speak with senators, according to a source.
“This law has a predetermined outcome: a total ban on TikTok in the United States,” the company said. “The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their constitutional right to free expression,” he added.
Some opponents of the legislation, including Democratic Representative Maxwell Frost, have argued that the bill will pass in the House. Frost said many lawmakers who will vote for the bill are driven by a desire to protect users, which he supports. Frost was among four House members out of the 432-member House who held a press conference opposing the bill.
“The problem is the process here, the fact that this has been controlled and people really can’t digest the consequences,” Frost said. “I want ownership of TikTok changed, but not at the expense of the First Amendment rights of us, business owners and content creators.”
The law’s fate is uncertain in the US Senate, where some senators want to take a different approach.
President Joe Biden said last week that he would sign the bill.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday that the goal was ending Chinese ownership – not banning TikTok. “Do we want TikTok, as a platform, to be owned by an American company or owned by China? Do we want data from TikTok — children’s data, adults’ data — to go, stay in America, or go to China?”
It is unclear whether China would agree to any sale or whether TikTok could be divested within six months.
The bill would give ByteDance 165 days to divest TikTok. Failing to do so, app stores operated by Apple, Alphabet’s Google and others cannot legally offer TikTok or provide web hosting services to ByteDance-controlled apps.
In 2020, then-President Donald Trump attempted to ban Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat, but was blocked by the courts. In recent days, he has raised concerns about the ban.
