TikTok Express Concerns About The US Prohibition Law

JAKARTA - On Sunday, April 21, TikTok reiterated its concerns regarding the issue of free speech related to a bill passed by the House of Representatives which would ban the popular social media app in the US if its owner, ByteDance from China, did not sell its shares within a year.

The US House of Representatives passed the legislation on Saturday 19 April with a vote of 360 to 58. Now, the bill will be submitted to the Senate where it will most likely be passed in the coming days. US President Joe Biden previously stated that he would sign the law on TikTok.

Many members of the US legislature from both parties, both Republicans and Democrats, and the Biden administration stated that TikTok poses a national security risk as China could force the company to share data from 170 million US users.

A move to include TikTok in a wider overseas aid package could speed up a potential ban schedule after a separate bill was previously stalled in the Senate.

"It is not encouraging that the House of Representatives uses important foreign aid reasons to once again push for a bill of bans that will trampled on the right to free speech 170 million US citizens," TikTok said in a statement.

TikTok in February criticized the draft original law which eventually stalled in the Senate. They, said the law would "censor millions of US citizens." The company also claims that the ban on TikTok in Montana last year was a violation of the First Amendment.

The American Civil Lawyers Union (ACLU) opposes the Council Bill on the basis of free speech.

TikTok insists that they never share US data and will not.

Democratic Senator Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on Sunday that TikTok could be used as a propaganda tool by the Chinese government, and noted that "many young people" use TikTok to get news.

"Ide bahwa kita akan memberikan Partai Communist alat propaganda sebanyak ini serta kemampuan untuk mengumpulkan data pribadi 170 juta warga AS, ini adalah risiko keamanan nasional," ujar Warner.

Knight's First Institute of Amendments at Columbia University, a free speech group, said the new bill "does not have any tangible results" as China and other US rival countries could still buy US citizen data from brokers on the open market and conduct disinformation campaigns using US-based social media platforms.

Several Democratic Party members also raised concerns over the freedom of speech over the ban and asked for stronger data privacy legislation.

Democratic representative Ro Total told ABC News on Sunday that he felt TikTok's ban might not remain in court, citing protection of freedom of speech in the Constitution.

The board voted on March 13 to give ByteDance about six months to release US assets from TikTok or face bans.

The bill passed last Saturday provides a time limit of nine months that could be extended for three months if the president assesses progress towards sales.

Maria Cantwell, chairman of the Senate Trade Committee, expressed support for the latest bill. He previously asked the Council to revise some details in the March 13 Bill.