Washington: The U.S. Senate has approved a bill to ban the short video-sharing platform TikTok in the United States due to national security concerns.
According to a report by a British news agency, the bill mandates that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, must sell the application within a year or have it blocked in the U.S. from Apple and Google app stores. The bill will now be sent to President Joe Biden, who has stated that he will sign it as soon as it reaches his desk.
Media reports indicate that even if the U.S. manages to force ByteDance to sell TikTok, any deal would still require approval from Chinese authorities, who have expressed their opposition to such a move. Blocking the app in the U.S. could take several years as ByteDance’s legal actions could delay the process.
The U.S. alleges that TikTok allows Beijing to gather data and spy on users. Notably, TikTok has around 170 million users in the U.S., and U.S. politicians may face public backlash over the app’s ban.
Opponents also claim that TikTok serves as a medium for spreading propaganda, however, China and the company vehemently deny these claims.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk, owner of the social media platform X, has spoken out against the TikTok ban, arguing that it would be contrary to the freedom of speech and expression.
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