A controversial bill that could completely ban the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok from being downloaded in the U.S. is headed to the House floor after a Congressional committee voted unanimously on Thursday to advance the legislation.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a bipartisan vote of 50-0, Fox Business reported. The measure, titled the ‘‘Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” would require ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to divest the social media app or face an outright ban in the U.S. It would also create a process for the executive branch of the federal government to ban apps in the future that are deemed a “national security” risk.
“This is my message to TikTok: break up with the Chinese Communist Party or lose access to your American users,” said Gallagher, who chairs the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. “America’s foremost adversary has no business controlling a dominant media platform in the United States. TikTok’s time in the United States is over unless it ends its relationship with CCP-controlled ByteDance.”