On Wednesday, US House voted through a bill that requires TikTok’s Chinese owners to sell the platform or face being prohibited from entering the United States, despite former President Donald J. Trump’s opposition to targeting the popular social media app he once promised to ban.
Representative Steve Scalise, Republican of Louisiana and majority leader, said on Monday that the House will try to expedite the bill’s approval using special procedures designed for noncontroversial legislation, which requires a two-thirds majority to succeed. And true to their words, it does saw expedition on Wednesday when it witnessed overwhelming support from the US house representatives.
The strategy reflected the bill’s rising support on Capitol Hill during an election year when lawmakers of both political parties are keen to show their readiness to be tough on China.
“We must ensure that the Chinese government cannot weaponize TikTok against American users and our government through data collection and propaganda,” Mr. Scalise stated in his weekly preview of legislation to be debated on the House floor.
Select Committee on Chinese Communist Party
The 13-page measure is the work of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, which has provided as a source of bipartisanship in the polarised House. The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted unanimously last week to approve legislation that would ban TikTok from US app stores by September 30 unless its Beijing-based parent firm, ByteDance, surrendered its interest.
However, Mr. Trump, who as president issued an executive order that achieved just that, has suddenly reversed direction and is openly opposing the measure, putting his ability to continue undermining bipartisan legislation in Congress on the campaign road to the test.
Mr. Trump issued a convoluted explanation for his turnaround on Monday, claiming that he did not want to alienate young people or give Facebook, which he considers a mortal opponent, greater influence.
Trump’s statement
In an interview, Mr. Trump stated that he still saw TikTok as a national security danger, but that banning it would cause young people to “go crazy.” He went on to say that any measure that harms the platform will assist Facebook, which he described as a “enemy of the people.”
“Frankly, there are a lot of people on TikTok that love it,” Mr. Trump added. “There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it. There’s a lot of good and there’s a lot of bad with TikTok,” he said, “but the thing I don’t like is that without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people, along with a lot of the media.”
It is unclear if Mr. Trump’s turnaround on the subject would undermine the bill’s overwhelming support in the House, where a simmering debate over the legislation has become heated. Many politicians were outraged last week when TikTok directed its users to flood congressional phone lines with calls pleading with members not to shut down the company.
“Trump’s flip-flop on TikTok puts House Republicans in a very awkward position because it forces them to choose between supporting Trump and standing up to China,” said Democratic strategist Geoff Garin. “Voters on both ends of the aisle have no confidence in China to play by any significant set of rules as well as believe that China is determined to get away with whatever it can get away with, and that would apply to China’s control over TikTok.”
Action on availability of apps
Mr. Trump’s government took action to prevent TikTok from being available on Apple and Google app stores due to worries about the service’s Chinese ownership. However, federal judges have repeatedly blocked Mr. Trump’s TikTok ban from taking effect.
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