'Why is TikTok getting banned in US?' Netizens wonder, as House passes bill

The US House of Representatives recently passed a bill that could see TikTok get banned in America. The bill gives ByteDance, the app’s Chinese parent company, six months to sell its controlling stake. Should it fail to do so, the app would be blocked in the US.

The bill that was passed overwhelmingly in a bipartisan vote. However, to become law, it must first clear the Senate and be signed by the president.

Why does the US want to ban TikTok?

The bill was introduced by politicians from both major US parties. The basic reason why the move was made is because lawmakers are afraid ByteDance could be forced by the Chinese government to hand over data of millions of US users.

Several lawmakers across the US have long expressed their concerns about China's influence over TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. The firm, which is based in Beijing, is registered in the Cayman Islands. There are offices across Europe and the US.

Joe Biden has promised that he would sign the bill as soon as it secures approval in the Senate, if it does. This could potentially lead to a diplomatic spat with China.

To be able to complete a forced divestiture, ByteDance would need Chinese officials’ approval. However, this is something Beijing has vowed to oppose, with foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin saying the move would "come back to bite the US".

Wisconsin Republican Mike Gallagher, who co-authored the bill, said that the US could not "take the risk of having a dominant news platform in America controlled or owned by a company that is beholden to the Chinese Communist Party".

TikTok has previously tried to assure that data of its US users are safe, and has been shielded from ByteDance employees in China. TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew warned that if the app is banned in the US, it would give "more power to a handful of other social media companies,” and several Americans’ jobs will be at risk, according to BBC.

An investigation by the Wall Street Journal in January, however, found that data was still being unofficially shared between TikTok in the US and ByteDance in China. There were many cases, including one in which ByteDance employees in China accessed a journalist's data in an attempt to track down its sources.

The house vote was welcome by leaders of the Senate intelligence committee, including Mark Warner, a Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a Republican. "We are united in our concern about the national security threat posed by TikTok - a platform with enormous power to influence and divide Americans whose parent company ByteDance remains legally required to do the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party," they said in a statement.