[[{“value”:”Joe Biden on Friday said he would sign a bill that could ban TikTok if Congress approves it.
“If they pass it, I’ll sign it,” Biden told reporters.
The legislation, called the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, “calls on China’s ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok — or effectively face a U.S. ban,” the Associated Press reports.
According to reports, the bill is quickly making its way through Congress.
Joe Biden claims that if Congress passes a bill that could ban TikTok, he will sign it. pic.twitter.com/KLMV74e5Pz
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) March 8, 2024
The Hill reports:
The bill from Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee with unanimous support on Thursday, just two days after it was introduced. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi are the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the a special House committee focused on China.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said Thursday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, he will be bring the bill to a House floor vote next week.
Although House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) raised concerns about Republicans using a “rushed process” on the bill, he and other Democrats supported it over national security concerns they said are raised by TikTok based on its Chinese-based parent company ByteDance.
TikTok has pushed back on those allegations.
The bill would require ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a ban on U.S. app stores and web hosting services, banning users from accessing the platform. It gives ByteDance 165 days to divest TikTok once passed.
“Next week, the House will vote to give Biden the power to decide which apps you can run on your phone, based on whether he deems them to be owned by a foreign adversary. I’ve never used TikTok, but I’m not voting to give the President new powers to ban it and other apps,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) commented.
Next week, the House will vote to give Biden the power to decide which apps you can run on your phone,
based on whether he deems them to be owned by a foreign adversary.
I’ve never used TikTok, but I’m not voting to give the President new powers to ban it and other apps.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) March 8, 2024
Lawmakers in the US are considering a bill that would force #TikTok to cut ties with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or face a ban in the #US.
Read more: https://t.co/G77HJ5gmXU pic.twitter.com/UuZp15XIQe
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) March 9, 2024
Donald Trump commented on the potential TikTok ban.
“If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business. I don’t want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better. They are a true Enemy of the People!” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
From the Associated Press:
The White House had provided technical support in the drafting of the bill, though White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier this week the TikTok legislation “still needs some work” to get to a place where Biden would endorse it.
Former President Donald Trump, the likely Republican nominee, came out in a Truth Social post on Thursday saying he opposed a ban because it would help rival social media platform Facebook. Trump’s opposition to the legislation comes after he issued — and then rescinded — an executive action late in his presidency intended to ban TikTok and another popular app, WeChat.
Trump’s pushback puts him on the opposite side of the debate of powerful Republicans, including Johnson and Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who has called the legislation a “critical national security bill.”
Both the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission have warned that TikTok owner ByteDance could share user data — such as browsing history, location and biometric identifiers — with China’s authoritarian government. TikTok said it has never done that and wouldn’t do so if asked. The U.S. government also hasn’t provided evidence of that happening.
In a separate move, Biden recently signed an executive order allowing the Department of Justice and other federal agencies to take steps to prevent the large-scale transfer of Americans’ personal data to what the White House calls “countries of concern,” including China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela.”}]] [[{“value”:”
Joe Biden said on Friday that he would sign legislation that could ban TikTok, if Congress approves.
Biden told reporters that he would sign the bill if it was passed.
The Associated Press reports that the legislation, called Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act “calls on China’s ByteDance, to divest their ownership of TikTok – or face a U.S. Ban”.
According to reports, it appears that the bill is moving quickly through Congress.
Joe Biden says he will sign a bill if Congress passes one that bans TikTok. pic.twitter.com/KLMV74e5Pz
Daily Loud (@DailyLoud), March 8, 2024
The Hill reports
The bill introduced by Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill. on Thursday received unanimous support from the House Energy and Commerce Committee just two days after its introduction. Gallagher is the chairman of a special House Committee focused on China, while Krishnamoorthi is the ranking member.
House Majority leader Steve Scalise, R-La. On Thursday, he said on X (formerly Twitter), that he would bring the bill up for a vote at the House next week.
While House Energy and Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., raised concerns over Republicans using a rushed process on the bill he and other Democrats backed it because of national security concerns raised by TikTok’s Chinese-based parent ByteDance.
TikTok has responded to these allegations.
ByteDance would be required to divest TikTok, or face a ban from U.S. web hosting services and app stores, preventing users from accessing this platform. ByteDance has 165 days after the bill is passed to divest TikTok.
“Next week, the House is going to vote to give Biden power to decide what apps you can use on your phone based on his assessment of whether they are owned by a foreign enemy. Thomas Massie, R-KY, commented: “I’ve never used TikTok but I won’t vote to give the President more powers to ban it and others apps.”
Next week, the House is voting to give Biden the authority to decide which apps can be run on your smartphone.
Based on whether he believes they are owned by an enemy foreign.
I’ve never used TikTok but I won’t vote to give the president new powers to ban other apps.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) March 8, 2024
US lawmakers are considering a bill which would force #TikTok, its Chinese parent company ByteDance to cut ties or face a ban on the #US.
Read more: https://t.co/G77HJ5gmXU pic.twitter.com/UuZp15XIQe
The Times Of India March 9, 2024
Donald Trump commented on a possible TikTok Ban.
“If you get rid TikTok from the market, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck’s business will double. I don’t like Facebook, which cheated during the last election, to do better. Trump said on Truth Social that they are a real enemy of the people.
The Associated Press:
The White House provided technical assistance in the drafting the bill. However, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre said earlier this week that the TikTok law “still needs some more work” before it is ready for Biden to endorse.
In a Thursday Truth Social post, former President Donald Trump, who is likely to be the Republican nominee, said he was against a ban, because it would benefit Facebook, a rival social media platform. Trump’s opposition comes after he issued – and then rescinded – an executive action intended to ban TikTok, and another popular app WeChat late in his presidential term.
Trump’s pushback places him on the other side of the debate from powerful Republicans such as Johnson and Republican House Minority Leader Steve Scalise who have called the legislation a ‘critical national security bill.
Both the FBI as well as the Federal Communications Commission warned that ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, could share user data with China’s authoritarian regime. This includes browsing history and location. TikTok has said that it would not do this if asked and has never done so. The U.S. Government has not provided any evidence that this happened.
Biden also signed an executive order that allows the Department of Justice to take action to prevent the transfer of personal data of Americans to countries of concern, such as China, Russia and North Korea.
“}]]
