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By passing a bill that could ban video-sharing app TikTok in the US, the House of
Representatives took one of the most aggressive legislative moves the country has seen
during the social media era. Many lawmakers who opposed the bill want to think bigger. “We
need to address data privacy across all social networks, including American companies like
Meta and X, through meaningful regulation that protects freedom of expression,” said
Wisconsin Democrat Mark Pocan in a post on X after he voted against the bill. “Not just
single out one platform.”
The bill, which would force China’s ByteDance Ltd. to give up its stake in TikTok as a
condition of continuing to operate in the US, now heads to the Senate. All signs are the
legislation will have a harder time there than it did in the House. Some senators have
already said the best way to design TikTok legislation that will stand up to legal
challenges is to set rules about data privacy for the entire tech industry, an idea that’s
been kicking around Washington for years without ever getting particularly close to
becoming law.
TikTok, which declined to comment, has argued that industrywide rules are the best
solution, and that it has invested significantly to protect personal data and audit its
operations for doing so. It also pushed the idea of such rules in recent meetings with
officials, according to a person familiar with those discussions who wasn’t authorized to
speak publicly. ByteDance has spent $21 million on federal lobbying since its first
disclosure in late 2019.
US intelligence officials for years have been telling Congress that Chinese control of
TikTok is such a dire threat that a ban is justified. Former President Donald Trump tried
to ban it. President Joe Biden rescinded Trump’s executive orders proposing a blanket ban,
but he also signed a law in late 2022 prohibiting the app on government devices. More than
30 states have passed their own laws to do the same. Montana lawmakers passed a complete
ban on TikTok in the state, but the law is tied up in court.
Trump may have changed his mind recently, but TikTok’s critics point to several problems
with the app. For more on their reasons and the ways to legislation could to address them,
read Anna Edgerton and Alex Barinka’s story: Congress Should Think Bigger Than TikTok Ban,
Tech Critics Say
