Will TikTok be banned in the US? Government fears over China ban explained and what it means for the UK

The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee has given President Joe Biden the power to ban Chinese social networking site TikTok.

Lawmakers have voted to give the government new powers to block the ByteDance app, which is used by more than 100 million Americans, as well as other apps deemed a security risk.

Republicans who voted in favor of the ban argued that the platform posed a “threat to national security,” while Democrats who opposed the law called the decision premature.

Here’s what you need to know.

Will TikTok be banned in the US?

The vote gives the president the power to ban TikTok, but whether Joe Biden will use it remains to be seen.

The bill does not specify exactly how the ban would work, but it gives Mr. Biden the power to ban all transactions using TikTok, which in turn could prevent anyone in the US from accessing the app or downloading it to their phone.

“TikTok is a national security threat… It’s time to act,” said Rep. Michael McCall, chairman of the Republican committee that supported the bill.

“Anyone who has downloaded TikTok on their device has given the CCP (Communist Party of China) access to all of their personal information. It’s a spy ball in her phone.”

Democrats opposed the bill, saying it was rushed and required due diligence through discussion and consultation with experts.

The bill also requires Mr. Biden to impose a ban on any company “permitted” to share sensitive personal information with a Chinese-influenced company.

In recent weeks, TikTok has come under increasing criticism over concerns that it could leak user data into the hands of the Chinese government and undermine Western security interests.

The White House gave government agencies 30 days this week to make sure TikTok is not being used on federal devices and systems.

Politicians in over 30 states in the US, Canada, and the European Union have also banned TikTok downloads on state-owned devices.

The fate of the latter measure is still unclear, and there are significant obstacles to be faced before it becomes law. The bill must be approved by the full House of Representatives and the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate before it can be passed to Biden.

“The US ban on TikTok is a ban on the export of American culture and values ​​to the billions of people who use our service around the world,” a TikTok spokeswoman said after the vote.

The Biden administration has not said whether it supports the bill, saying only that it has previously raised concerns about apps like TikTok.

“We will continue to consider other actions we can take, including ways to further cooperate with Congress on this matter,” White House Press Secretary Olivia Dalton said in a statement.

What is the impact on the UK?

The UK government does not seem to share Republican lawmakers’ hardline stance on TikTok.

After the US and Brussels voted to ban government officials from using the app, Michelle Donelan, the minister at the head of the new Ministry of Science, Innovation and Technology, said the UK would not follow suit.

“As a conservative, I am a firm believer in personal choice,” she said. policy.

“We have no evidence that it is necessary to stop people from using TikTok.

“It would be a very, very open move… it would require a significant evidence base.

“We keep checking these things. National security should always come first, and if I were presented with evidence to the contrary of this view, I would take it up. But it definitely wasn’t.”