A US House of Representatives committee voted for a bill that could ban TikTok in the US

The members of the US House of Representatives House Energy and Commerce Committee voted unanimously today for a bill that, if it becomes law, could cause TikTok to be banned in the US.

CNN reports that the bill will give the current parent company of TikTok, ByteDance,165 days to sell off the social networking company. If it fails to do so, the bill would make it illegal for app stores to make the TikTok app available for download in the country. The US previously banned the use of TikTok on government-owned devices in 2023.

The proposed bill is based on the belief that since ByteDance is owned and is based in China, it could take data from TikTok's US users and send it to the Chinese government. Washington Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee, stated:

Today, we will take the first step in creating long-overdue laws to protect Americans from the threat posed by apps controlled by our adversaries, and to send a very strong message that the US will always stand up for our values and freedom,

The bill will now move to the full House for its approval, followed by approval by the US Senate. Finally, the bill would have to be signed by US President Joe Biden to become law. Ironically, Biden's 2024 US Presidential election campaign launched its own TikTok channel just a few weeks ago.

The official TikTok Policy X (formerly Twitter) account posted a response to today's committee vote. It said, in part, "This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States." It added that the passage of the bill will hurt businesses and TikTok content creators.

Montana approved a law in 2023 that would have banned the use of TikTok for everyone in that state. However, a US district court judge issued a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of that law while the case awaits a full trial.