WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill today that would give TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the US assets of the short-video app used by about 170 million Americans or face a ban.
The bill passed 352-65, with bipartisan support, but it faces a more uncertain path in the Senate where some favour a different approach to regulating foreign-owned apps that could pose security concerns. Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has not indicated how he plans to proceed.
TikTok’s fate has become a major issue in Washington. Democratic and Republican lawmakers said their offices had received large volumes of calls from teenage TikTok users who oppose the legislation, with the volume of complaints at times exceeding the number of calls seeking a ceasefire between Israel…