U.S. House Bill Requires ByteDance to Sell TikTok Amid National Security Concerns

On March 5, bipartisan members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a bill that would require China’s ByteDance to sell its short video posting app TikTok. Photographed in 2022 (2024 Reuters/Dado Ruvic)

[ワシントン ５日 ロイター] – Bipartisan members of the U.S. House of Representatives on the 5th submitted a bill that would require China’s ByteDance to sell its short video posting app TikTok. If it is not sold within about six months, it faces a ban in the United States.

More than a dozen members of the House China Select Committee, including Chairman Mike Gallagher (R) and Ranking Member of the Democratic Party Raja Krishnamurti, are working to address national security concerns associated with Chinese companies owning the app. Submitted jointly by members of the Diet.

The bill is scheduled to be discussed at a public hearing in the Energy and Commerce Committee on the 7th, and may be voted on.

“This is my message to TikTok: break with the Chinese Communist Party or lose access to American users,” Gallagher said.

The bill requires ByteDance to sell TikTok within 165 days. If not sold, app stores such as Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab and Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab will provide web hosting services for TikTok and apps managed by ByteDance. It becomes illegal to do so. It does not include legal measures against app users.

It would give the president the power to designate apps that may pose a national security risk and potentially limit or ban their services if they are not sold.

Apps that have more than 1 million annual active users and are under the control of hostile foreign groups are also targeted.

A TikTok spokesperson criticized the bill, saying it would completely ban the app. He said he would trample on the First Amendment right to free speech for 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of the platform they need to grow and create jobs. .

“(The bill) is an important and welcome step,” a spokesperson for the National Security Council (NSC) said, adding that the Biden administration is working to further strengthen the bill and give it the strongest legal backing possible. He said he would cooperate with the

He said he is working with members of both ruling and opposition parties to counter threats to domestic tech services that pose risks to sensitive data and broader national security.

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2024-03-06 05:02:00