Social media platform TikTok is facing a comprehensive ban in the US after the House voted to pass a bill that would force its Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest from the app.
Some 352 House members on both sides of the aisle voted to approve the bill with 65 against, giving ByteDance 165 days to divest or face a ban from all app stores and web hosting services.
The bill still needs Senate approval before being passed to President Joe Biden, who has signalled his approval of the bill.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has not committed to holding a vote on the bill.
Headquartered in Beijing, ByteDance has attracted scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers over its handling of users’ data, including violations of the US Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
In March 2023, the FBI opened an investigation into ByteDance’s use of TikTok to spy on journalists.
Valued at $220 billion, ByteDance is one of the most valuable private companies in the world, alongside the likes of Ant Group. SpaceX and Shein.
Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump has shifted his position on TikTok.
Though he sought to ban the app in 2020, he told NBC this week that “without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people".
"There's a lot of good and there's a lot of bad,” about TikTok, said Trump. "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.”