Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) stated on Wednesday that they intend to push for a bill in the Senate that could ban TikTok after it was approved by the House. House moved the bill forward by a large margin. The Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which received a strong vote in the House, would require ByteDance, the China-based parent company of TikTok, to divest the app within about five months after it takes effect, or face a ban in the U.S.
Supporters of the bill argue that TikTok being controlled by a Chinese company could put the data of millions of Americans at risk of being accessed by the Chinese government.
Warner and Rubio, in a joint statement, expressed their shared concern about the national security threat posed by TikTok, a platform with significant influence and the potential to divide Americans, and its parent company ByteDance, which is obligated to follow the directives of the Chinese Communist Party.
“We were pleased with the strong bipartisan vote in the House of Representatives today, and we are eager to collaborate on getting this bill through the Senate and signed into law,” they added.
The bill garnered a 352-65 vote in the House.
Though there was opposition from both sides, the supporters of the bill managed to win over the critics, even after a vigorous lobbying effort by TikTok to encourage users to contact members of Congress and oppose the legislation. vote.
A TikTok spokesperson called on the Senate to proceed more cautiously than the House, which passed the bill in a floor vote less than a week after its introduction.
“This process was conducted in secret and the bill was rushed through for one reason: to ban. We hope that the Senate will carefully consider the facts, listen to their constituents, and comprehend the impact on the economy, the 7 million small businesses, and the 170 million Americans who use our service,” the spokesperson stated.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) stated that the Senate will assess the legislation once it arrives from the House.
Updated at 11:46 a.m.
Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Wednesday they will work pass a bill that could ban TikTok through the Senate after a vote in the House advanced it by a wide margin. The Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act would force ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, to divest the…
