The U.S. House of Representatives will decide the future of TikTok today.
On Wednesday (March 13), House lawmakers will vote on legislation that will force TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance to sell its wildly popular social media app, which is used by about 102.3 million Americans, or face a ban from app stores and web-hosting services.
The White House has expressed concerns that Chinese ownership is using the platform in attempts to undermine democracy, gain access to Americans' data, or run a disinformation campaign.
As reported by BBC, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence alleged in an annual report on threats to US security that TikTok accounts from the Chinese government's propaganda arm "reportedly targeted candidates from both political parties during the U.S. midterm election cycle in 2022".
Per CBS News, the White House provided technical support in the drafting of the bill, which is known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier this week that the TikTok legislation "still needs some work" to get to a place where the President would endorse it, however, Biden himself promised to sign the legislation into law if it came to his desk.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan explained that the aim was ending Chinese ownership, not restricting the popular app, stating: "Do we want TikTok, as a platform, to be owned by an American company or owned by China? Do we want the data from TikTok - children's data, adults’ data - to be going, to be staying here in America or going to China?" he said, per Reuters.
According to The Guardian, a spokesperson for TikTok has stated that the bill has a "predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States" and has launched a campaign to encourage users to call Congress to "stop a TikTok shutdown".
The company also added in a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter): "This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs."
In a surprise move, former President Donald J. Trump opposed the TikTok legislation, despite introducing his own US ban on the Chinese owners while president.
"There are a lot of people on TikTok that love it. There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it," Trump told CNBC, noting that without it "you can make Facebook bigger and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people".
Asked about the app's security, the 77-year-old Republican presidential candidate said "There's a lot of good and there's a lot of bad" with the social media platform.
The vote to ban TikTok is expected around 10AM ET under fast-track rules that require approval from two-thirds of House members for the measure to pass.
