(DailyDig.com) – On March 7, a committee in the House passed a bill, 50-0, that would attempt to force Bytedance, based in Beijing, China, to sell their product, TikTok, within the next six months, or a ban on the app would be imposed in the US.
Rumors have surfaced over the last few days that bankers are developing bids for the purchase of the popular app. However, according to technology insiders, there are many issues that may prevent a sale from succeeding. They warn that the app may just be banned instead.
President Biden announced on March 8 that he supports the bill and will sign it after it is voted on by a floor vote of the House. A bipartisan majority of US lawmakers believe that the app is a tool for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to spy and allow propaganda to influence the 150 million US users of the app.
The CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, testified in Congress that China doesn’t access any user data from the US. A TikTok spokesperson claimed that the bill would deny the rights of the First Amendment to US citizens and affect the jobs of five million companies that rely on TikTok for their growth and business progress. They also stated that artists and content creators in the US will lose their audience and their livelihoods.
On March 7, TikTok announced to its US users their opposition to the legislation and requested that they contact their representatives to vote no. They warned that TicTok would shut down in the United States. Many users of the app inundated Capitol Hill with phone calls, according to news media and posts on social media.
Some problems arise in the face of antitrust regulations if an American tech company attempts to purchase TikTok. The larger tech firms, such as Google, Meta, Apple, or Microsoft, would dominate the acquisition deals due to the vast amount of financial resources available to them as opposed to smaller companies.
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