The United States House of Representatives approved this Wednesday, March 13, a bill that could ban TikTok in the United States if this social network does not is divested of its Chinese ownership.
The project was approved by 352 votes in favor and 65 against – of which 15 votes were Republicans and 50 Democrats – and must now have the approval of the Senate and be ratified by President Joe Biden, who has said that he would sign that law.
The proposal was already ratified unanimously – 50 votes in favor and none against – last Thursday by the Energy and Commerce Committee of the House of Representatives and, if finally approved by both chambers and the Government, it would give 180 days to the Chinese ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, to sell the application.
According to a report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence of the United States, the Chinese government used TikTok accounts to harm candidates from both the Democratic and Republican Parties during the 2022 elections, in which Democrats performed better than expected. by retaining the Senate and losing the Lower House by few seats.
China responds to the US: ‘Repression of Tiktok is an intimidating tactic’
China assured this Wednesday that the “repression” against the video application TikTok by the United States is “an intimidating tactic” that will end “turning against” the North American country, whose Lower House will vote on a bill that would force the platform to get rid of its Chinese property.
The spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry Wang Wenbin In a press conference, he accused the United States of adopting intimidation tactics instead of “competing fairly” and of “never finding evidence that TikTok threatens its national security.”
The spokesperson assured that the behavior of the United States “disrupts normal commercial operations, damages the confidence of international investors in the investment environment and destroys the international economic and commercial order,” while warning that US actions “will become ” against the country.
