Although it is probably the most used social network globally, however TikTok the moment is not at all simple. At least in the United States. In fact, a bill that would force the Chinese company ByteDance to sell his social network (punishment, the ban) has just been approved by the Senate. The final decision now rests with President Joe Biden, who in the meantime has already declared that he will turn it into law as soon as the document arrives on his desk. Once the signature is added, ByteDance will have nine months to complete the sale of TikTok, otherwise it will face the ban of the platform in the United States.
The vote of the Senate, the colleagues of The Vergeit came with a strategic move by the Chamberwhich inserted the “question” within a package of proposals of a very different importance, i.e aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. In this way, the Senate was practically forced to also take into consideration the ban on TikTok, then giving the green light.
TikTok and fears related to its ownership: Senate, Congress and White House speak
Why did it get to this point? L’intelligence statunitense fears that the ownership of the social platform by a company based in Chinese could endanger the data of US users. A fear due to a Chinese national security law that can force companies based in China to provide internal information. Furthermore, according to intelligence, the Chinese government could decide which messages to spread through the social network, thus manipulating the information.
«Congress does not act to punish ByteDance, TikTok, or any other individual company. He is taking action to prevent foreign adversaries from conducting espionage, surveillance and disinformation to harm the most vulnerable Americans, our military forces, our women and our government personnel“said Maria Cantwell, chairwoman of the Senate Commerce Committee.
«The truth is that these Chinese companies ultimately have no obligations to their customers or their shareholders, but they owe them to the PRC government. In the context of the social platforms used by nearly half of Americans, it is not difficult to imagine how a platform that so facilitates commerce, political discourse, and social debate could be covertly manipulated to serve the goals of an authoritarian regime, with a long experience of censorship, repression and promotion of disinformation», added Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
He then addressed a certainly current topic, the concerns of the younger ones who use TikTok and who fear that this law could lead to its disappearance. «I want to make it clear to all Americans that this is not an effort to take away your voice. Many Americans, particularly young Americans, are rightly skeptical. But they didn’t see what Congress saw. They were not present in confidential briefings during which some of the threats posed by foreign control of TikTok were explored».
Signature is on the way, President Joe Biden confirms
Finally, the comment also arrived White House. «I will sign this bill and address the American people as soon as it hits my desk tomorrow, so we can start sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week“, he has declared Joe Biden shortly after the Senate vote.