US House Of Representatives Passes TikTok's Divestment Bill, Senate Not Sure To Agree

Democratic Senate Chuck Schumer has yet to state how he will handle the TikTok Divestment Bill (photo: x @SenSchumer)

JAKARTA - The United States House of Representatives (US DPR) on Wednesday 13 March approved a bill requiring ByteDance, owner of TikTok from China, to sell ownership of TikTok assets in the US within the next six months. If ByteDance fails to divest, TikTok is threatened with being banned from operating in the US.

The bill was passed with a majority vote of 352 agreeing and 65 opposing. Shocking support came from both parties, Democrats and Republicans. Even so, the fate of this bill in the Senate remains unclear. The Senate Majority Leader of the Democratic Party, Chuck Schumer, has not yet stated how he will handle this bill.

TikTok's problems have become a major issue in Washington. Democratic and Republican lawmakers were both flooded with calls from mostly teenagers on TikTok users. They oppose the legislation. In fact, the volume of complaints related to TikTok exceeded the complaints calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The bill is the latest step in Washington's series of actions to respond to US national security concerns about China. These concerns include various things, ranging from internet-connected vehicles, state-of-the-art artificial intelligence chips, to cranes at US ports.

"This is a critical national security issue. The Senate must take this step and pass the bill," said Steve Scallise, Republican number two member of the House of Representatives, through a social media platform.

Shortly after being passed by the House of Representatives, Democratic Senator Mark Warner and Republican Senator Marco Rubio issued a joint statement. They expressed support for this bill and hoped that the bill could be passed by the Senate and signed into law.

This vote comes just more than a week after the bill was proposed. The bill was passed after only one public hearing with a slight debate, after previously the action in Congress was halted for more than a year.

Last month, President Joe Biden's re-election campaign team joined TikTok, leading TikTok officials to hope that the restriction legislation won't happen this year.

The House of Representatives' Energy and Trade Committee last week approved the bill unanimously 50-0, which then proceeds to the overall vote in the House of Representatives.

TikTok CEO Will Meet US Senators

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is scheduled to visit Capitol Hill on Wednesday to talk to senators.

"This legislation has a predetermined goal: a total ban on TikTok in the United States," TikTok said before the vote. "The government is trying to revoke the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution from 170 million Americans."

President Biden said last week that he would sign the bill.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday that his goal was to end China's holdings, not ban TikTok.

"Do we want TikTok, as a platform, owned by an American company or owned by China? Do we want data from TikTok - children's data, adult data - to go to China or stay here in America?" he said.

It is unclear whether China will approve the sale or whether TikTok assets in the US can be divested within six months.

If ByteDance fails to divest, app stores operated by Apple and Alphabet Google and others can no longer legally offer TikTok or provide web hosting services for apps controlled by ByteDance.

In 2020, then President Donald Trump attempted to ban TikTok and WeChat, Tencent's instant messaging app from China, but was blocked by the court. In recent days, Trump has again voiced his concerns about the ban. It is unclear whether WeChat or other well-known Chinese applications could be banned under this legislation.

Every forced divestment of TikTok from the US will most likely face legal challenges, which the company will have to put forward within 165 days of the bill signed by the president. In November, a US judge blocked the ban on using TikTok in the state of Montana after the company sued.