The House passed a bill that would require China to sell TikTok to a US or US-friendly buyer, or the US will turn it off. There are political ramifications. Here’s what to expect.
Internet War
The Wall Street Journal reports Internet War Intensifies as House Passes TikTok Ban
The House on Saturday easily passed a bill that would force a sale or ban of TikTok, which is owned by China–based ByteDance, bringing closer to reality a law that could remove the popular app and deepen the internet divide between the two countries.
The measure, which passed 360-58 and was tied to a sweeping aid package for Israel and Ukraine, would give ByteDance up to a year to sell the app—compared with the six-month period proposed in a prior bill.
If ByteDance can’t find a buyer within that time, TikTok—which has 170 million users in the U.S.—would be banned.
The Senate could vote on the bill in coming days. President Biden has previously said that he would sign such a bill into law.
Earlier this week, Beijing forced Apple to help close a loophole that some Chinese users had been exploiting to access already-banned services, including two of Meta’s apps, WhatsApp and Threads.
To some experts, it was seen as a small move—given that the country has already banned many outside social-media services and messaging apps—but indicative of China’s intentions to further push foreign companies out.
“The direction is clear,” said Dan Wang, a visiting scholar at Yale Law School’s Tsai China Center. “The walls are going up.”
Happy With This Action?
Some of my friends applaud the move by China on grounds China restricts US companies.
Does that mean we should stoop to their level? What if China passed a law requiring Google to sell itself to a China-friendly buyer? What if China tried to buy Apple or Boeing?
Would the US allow any of those actions?
Is TikTok a Genuine Security Threat?
If the answer is no, and I strongly believe the answer is no, then this law is nonsense. It’s just one more way the US tries to enforce sanctions on the whole world.
Sanctions never work. And the purpose here is exceptionally dubious in the first place.
What’s Next?
If it was a single bill, the Senate could reject it, and that is what I once thought would happen. But the House combined bills on Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and TikTok into one take it or leave it bill to the Senate.
I don’t expect Senate to make changes because then the House could make changes again, and everyone is desperate to waste $95 billion in aid to Israel and Ukraine.
Even if TikTok can find a US buyer, China would likely block the sale just as the US would block the sale of Google or Apple to China.
TikTok Ban Bill Worse Than It Looks
Politically Speaking
170 million US TiKTok users will not exactly be happy, to say the least. Biden will get the blame, as he should, because he could have spoken up against this bill, threatening a veto.
The bill cleverly gave China 12 months to postpone this until after the election. But people are not that stupid.
It’s not that these young voters will suddenly embrace Trump, but plenty of them will be mad enough over many things, to sit the election out.
I expect a less turnout this November than in 2020. This does not help Biden who picked up huge percentages of the youth vote.
Thoughts on the Election
For more election analysis, please see People Who Rent Will Decide the 2024 Presidential Election
For more on TiKTok please see my sarcastic post: I’m Putting Together a Group to Buy TikTok, Details Coming
It’s about time something is done about TikTok’s connections to China. This move by the House shows a step in the right direction towards protecting our data and national security. Let’s hope the Senate follows suit and President Biden signs it into law quickly. The Internet War is escalating, and decisive actions need to be taken.