WASHINGTON — By a resounding 352-65 vote, the House of Representatives approved a bill Wednesday that calls for China-based tech giant ByteDance to divest TikTok, or else the popular social video app will effectively be banned in the U.S.
The "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act" refers to TikTok -- used by roughly 170 million Americans -- as a threat to national security.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia) said on Thursday he's "happy" about the bipartisan House vote, calling it "good news."
"Let me say at the outset, there's a lot of creativity with TikTok, I think that's great. And there's a lot of people that are social influencers that make their money off of that. And I think that creativity and that platform should be able to continue. It just shouldn't be controlled by an adversary like the Chinese Communist Party," he said.
Warner said he hopes the Senate acts soon.
"I hope the Senate will take up this legislation, amend it, if necessary, but get it to the President's desk as soon as possible," he said.
Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Virginia, 3rd District) released a statement, following his "yes" vote for the House bill.
He said: "This bill does not ban TikTok, but instead requires the Chinese parent company, ByteDance Ltd., to divest from TikTok within 180 days. It is my expectation that they will in fact divest in a timely manner and American users should be able to continue to use TikTok and other similar platforms, without the associated risks of an app being owned and operated by a foreign adversary of the United States. Congress must continue working to hold Big Tech companies accountable to protect Americans’ data, ensure our anti-trust laws are enforced to avoid media and tech monopolies, and avoid foreign adversaries manipulating public opinion, especially during elections.”
Numerous other countries have already passed some form of a ban on TikTok, including the United Kingdom, India, Taiwan, and Canada.