House Votes to Force China’s ByteDance to Sell TikTok

The House of Representatives on March 13 voted 352-65 to pass a bill that would require China’s ByteDance to divest popular social media application TikTok (see 2403050063).

The legislation now heads to the Senate for its consideration. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., who had previously expressed constitutional concerns about the bill (see 2403060079), joined Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in issuing a statement welcoming the House’s “strong bipartisan vote” and calling for Senate passage. Asked whether Warner's reservations had been addressed, a spokesperson said the senator decided he "can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., issued a one-sentence statement pledging to examine the bill. “The Senate will review the legislation when it comes over from the House,” he said.

TikTok urged the Senate to reject the bill, which would ban the app in the U.S. if it were not sold. “We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents, and realize the impact on the economy, 7 million small businesses, and the 170 million Americans who use our service,” the app tweeted.

In the House, proponents of the bill said the Chinese government could use ByteDance to access sensitive personal data collected by TikTok. They also accused TikTok of being a mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist Party.

“Applications controlled by foreign adversaries can be weaponized to target, manipulate and surveil millions of Americans,” said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. “This cannot continue.” Rodgers’ committee approved the bill by a 50-0 vote last week (see 2403070063).

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., who introduced the bill with Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., said the divestment requirement “is not new, it’s not without precedent.” He noted that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. ordered Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech to divest dating app Grindr in 2019 after sensitive personal data “got into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party” (see 2208240051).

TikTok has insisted that the app is not controlled by China and that it built a firewall to protect U.S. personal data from “unwanted foreign access” (see 2303230038).

Among opponents of the bill, Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, said the “real issue” is not TikTok but data privacy, and that instead of the TikTok bill, Congress should pass legislation to protect data privacy on all social media apps. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., questioned who will buy TikTok if the bill becomes law. “Who will be the next to control the data of over 170 million Americans?” she asked. “Are we going to trust [Meta founder] Mark Zuckerburg to control their data? I certainly don’t.”

President Joe Biden told reporters March 8 that if Congress passes the House bill, he will sign it into law.