US lawmakers get together to try and ban TikTok, again

It felt like just a while ago that TikTok was all over the news as public enemy number one in the United States, with the former President Trump even set to ban it at one point. The video sharing app did not get banned in the end, but it looks like that might change as US lawmakers are back again targeting TikTok.

Marco Rubio, a Republican senator, has announced that there will be a new push for a bipartisan legislation that would ban TikTok amid fears that the Chinese app would end up being used to spy on Americans. This proposed legislation would not only target TikTok in fact, but end up blocking transactions from any social media company that’s based in or under the influence of China and Russia. A similar bill is also being pushed in the US House of Representatives.

TikTok has not taken the news lightly, with the company stating that they find it troubling that these lawmakers have pushed for a politically-motivated ban that would do nothing to advance the US’ national security. They add that they will nevertheless continue to inform these lawmakers of their plans to further secure the platform in the US anyway.

This move comes after FBI director Chris Way had earlier said that TikTok’s US operations are a national concern due to the risk of it being used by the Chinese government to influence US users and control their devices. While a move to ban TikTok on a nationwide level is now underway, several US states including Alabama and Utah have already begun banning TikTok on government issued devices and networks anyway under the guise of national security. The US Senate passed a bill barring federal employees from using TikTok too.

In any case, there’s still hope for TikTok in the US, but it will require them to reach a national security agreement deal with the US government to protect the data of its users. TikTok’s owners ByteDance could also divest TikTok away to allay US fears, something that they were in fact ordered to do in 2020 when then-President Trump first tried to ban TikTok.

[ SOURCE ]