TikTok faces more heat in Washington, as House members introduce legislation demanding ByteDance divestiture

Source: CNBC

Published Tue, Mar 5 2024 2:42 PM EST


Lawmakers introduced a bill in Congress on Tuesday that would require China’s ByteDance to divest TikTok in order to avoid a ban of the video app in the U.S.

Representatives Mike Gallagher, R-Wi., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., introduced the legislation, dubbed “Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.” The bill says TikTok is controlled by a foreign adversary and poses a threat to U.S. national security.

“This is my message to TikTok: break up with the Chinese Communist Party or lose access to your American users,” said Gallagher, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, in a press release announcing the bill. Krishnamoorthi is the committee’s ranking member.

Should the bill pass, ByteDance would have about five months to divest TikTok, while web-hosting companies and app stores such like those owned by Apple and Google would be forced to to stop supporting the app and others tied to ByteDance.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/05/house-members-introduce-legislation-demanding-bytedance-divest-tiktok.html