The US Senate will vote again this week on a possible ban on the popular app TikTok. China is suspected of using this app to spy on American citizens. The House of Representatives had approved a previous version of this law, but it was not passed by the Senate.
News: The law that should ban TikTok in its current form in the United States has been approved again by the House of Representatives. This is an amended version of the law a little over a month ago. It was then approved by the House of Representatives, but not by the Senate. Some amendments are now supposed to ensure that the law obtains a bipartisan majority in the Senate.
the details:
- The revised version of the law is in a bill that also provides support to Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel. In this way, the initiators hope to gain more support in the Senate.
- Furthermore, the law has become a bit more flexible. The original law requires Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok's American subsidiary within six months. If not, TikTok will no longer be available in the US App Stores, Google Play Store, and Apple App Store. In the new draft law, this deadline was changed to nine months. In addition, the President may grant a one-time extension for an additional 90 days. In fact, the new law gives ByteDance twelve months instead of six to find a solution.
Senate and President
And now? The new law received 360 votes in favor and 58 votes against in the House of Representatives, a larger majority than the first proposal (352-65). The opponents are a colorful group of delegates with the strongest opinions on both sides of the spectrum.
- After the House of Representatives, the proposal moves again to the Senate. He's almost there again. If the Senate passes the new law, it will be up to President Joe Biden. He has already indicated that he would agree to such a ban.
