The House of Representatives has passed legislation that would ban TikTok in the United States if the social media platform’s China-based owner does not sell its stake within a year. The decision by House Republicans to include TikTok as part of a larger foreign aid package fast-tracked the ban after an earlier version had stalled in the Senate.
The company lobbied hard against the legislation, pushing the app’s 170 million US users — many of whom are young — to call Congress and voice opposition. But the ferocity of the pushback angered lawmakers on Capitol Hill, where there is broad concern about Chinese threats to the US and where few members use the platform themselves.
TikTok has denied assertions that it could be used as a tool of the Chinese government and has said it has not shared US user data with Chinese authorities.