By a unanimous vote, fifty members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed a bill that would functionally ban TikTok unless it sells its US operations to a competitor. The "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act" -- which, given its inelegant acronym of PAFFACAA, seems destined to be known simply as the TikTok ban bill -- would prohibit Chinese companies or investors from having a 20 percent or larger ownership share of major social media platforms operating in the US. Should Bytedance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, fail to divest in a timely fashion, massive financial penalties would be imposed on any app store that carried TikTok. The bill is speedrunning through Congress: a surprise introduction on Tuesday, a quick markup on Thursday, and the promise of a full House vote next week. It is a clever, well- organized move. Given that 170 million Americans use TikTok -- or more than half the country -- the specter of a ban on the popular app could rouse massive popular backlash if given time to develop. They're correct to be concerned.
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- United States of America
