Is TikTok getting banned? House panel unanimously approves bill for nationwide ban

A powerful House committee advanced a bill on Thursday that could lead to a nationwide ban against TikTok on all electronic devicesTikTok

It's the most aggressive legislation targeting TikTok to come out of a congressional committee since company CEO Shou Chew testified to lawmakers last year that the app poses no threat to Americans. The bill was introduced with some bipartisan support earlier this week by Wisconsin Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher, who chairs a House select committee on China, and the ranking member of that committee, Illinois Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi. The legislation also has the support of the White House and House Speaker Mike Johnson.

US officials have cited the widespread commercial availability of US citizens' data as another source of national security risk. The US government and other domestic law enforcement agencies are also known to have purchased US citizens' data from commercial data brokers.TikTok is mounting a push against the bill, including trying to mobilize its user base.

Many of the calls appear to be coming from teenagers and the elderly, some of whom seem to be "confused" about why they are exactly calling or why TikTok might be at risk, one GOP aide told CNN. "It's not because we're old, and grumpy, and don't understand TikTok, and how you use it for your business, and how you use it to communicate with your friends," Crenshaw said. "I was on social media long before any of the Gen Z-ers who are mad about TikTok. I understand."

So far, the US government has not publicly presented any evidence the Chinese government has accessed TikTok user data, and cybersecurity experts say it remains a hypothetical albeit serious concern. Efforts to ban TikTok date to the Trump administration, which used a series of executive orders to try to force app stores not to offer TikTok and to compel ByteDance to spin off the company. Those efforts also stalled amid legal challenges, though it led TikTok to engage in negotiations with the US government about how it could secure Americans' personal data. Those talks are ongoing, even as TikTok has moved to store US user data on US-based servers controlled by the tech giant Oracle.

Source: News Formal (newsformal.com)

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