The House once again passed a bill that could ban TikTok from the US unless its Chinese parent company ByteDance divests it — but this time, it’s in a way that will be harder for the Senate to stall, The Verge reported.

The bill passed 360-58 as part of a larger bill related to sanctions on foreign adversaries like Russia. It’s part of a package of foreign aid bills that seek to provide military aid to Ukraine and Israel and humanitarian aid to Gaza. 

Due to the urgency of the funds, packaging the TikTok bill with these measures means that the Senate will need to consider the proposal more swiftly than it would as a standalone bill. The earlier TikTok bill, which passed the House 353-65 just last month, has so far lingered in the Senate, with lawmakers there giving mixed messages about its future.

NBC News reported the House on Saturday passed a $95 billion package that includes two long-awaited bills with $60.8 billion of Ukraine aid and $26 billion in aid to Israel.

The Ukraine bill, which passed with 311 votes in favor, 112 votes against, and one present, will now head to the Senate alongside the Israel aid bill and two others — one for Taiwan and another that forces TikTok’s parent company to sell the platform.

The House also voted on Saturday to force TikTok’s parent company to sell it or be banned in the U.S. According to the bill, China-based ByteDance will have to sell TikTok within nine months — which the president could extend to a year — or face a nationwide ban. The policy, which lengthens the time frame for a sale from the earlier House bill, has Senate buy-in along with Biden’s support, putting TikTok closer than ever to a ban in the U.S.

Engadget reported the US House of Representatives passed a bill on Saturday that could either see TikTok banned in the country or force its sale. A revised version of the bill, which previously passed in the House in March but later stalled in the Senate, was roped in with a foreign aid package this time around, likely meaning it will now be treated as a higher priority item.

The bill paints TikTok as a national Security threat due to its ties to China. There are roughly 170 million US users on the app, at least according to TikTok, and ByteDance isn’t expected to let them go without a fight. 

In a statement posted on X earlier this week, the TikTok Policy account said such a law would “trample the free speech rights” of these users, “devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the U.S. economy, annually.” Critics of the bill have also argued that banning TikTok would do little in the way of actually protecting Americans’ data.

In my opinion, one of two things needs to happen: ByteDance finds a American buyer for the app and sells it to that person. Or, the United States government officially bans TikTok.

As support grows for a bill in Congress that would effectively ban TikTok in the US, the video platform is trying to rally support among a key group: its own users, The Verge reported.

TikTok sent users in the US a push notification on Wednesday, warning that “Congress is planning a total ban of TikTok” that would [strip] 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression.” The page says that a ban would “damage millions of businesses, destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country, and deny artists an audience.”

The alert includes a way for users to find their representatives and call their office.

According to the Verge, the notification comes shortly after the White House expressed support for a bipartisan bill directed at TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. The bill — called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act — is in response to the perceived national security risks of TikTok, particularly around how the company collects user data.

The bill would require that TikTok break off from ByteDance or risk being removed from app stores in the US.

Axios reported members of Congress are being flooded with calls from angry constitutions after TikTok launched a new campaign warning its users that the Chinese-owned app was at risk of being shut down in the U.S.

According to Axios, a key House committee voted unanimously Thursday afternoon to advance bipartisan legislation that would force ByteDance — TikTok’s Chinese parent company — to divest its ownership of the app within 165 days.

The highly unusual 50-0 vote in the House Energy Commerce Committee — which unveiled the bill two days ago alongside the China Select Committee — reflected some of the anger among members about TikTok’s pressure campaign.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said Thursday he would “absolutely” put the bill on the House floor.

The White House also indicated that President Biden would sign the bill, injecting new urgency— and aggression — into TikTok’s campaign to counter the yearlong efforts to address the app’s national security risks.

After asking users to enter their ZIP code, TikTok then directed them to call their representative in Congress and let them “know what TikTok means you and tell them to vote NO.”

Axios also reported that the authors of the bill responded furiously to what they called a “massive propaganda campaign,” emphasizing that TikTok would not be banned if ByteDance divests its ownership.

“TikTok is characterizing it as an outright ban, which is of course an outright lie,” House China Select Committee Chair Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) told reporters.

“So bad we turned phones off… Which means we could miss calls from constituents who actually need urgent help with something,” a senior Democratic aide added.

In my opinion, TikTok appears to be engaging in propaganda, by making its users feel that the app could disappear from their phones. Ironically, this is causing lawmakers in Congress to turn off their phones. I don’t think the pressure campaign from TikTok is working.

After a long reprieve from serious congressional scrutiny, lawmakers are taking another crack at getting TikTok to sever ties from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, The Verge reported. 

The leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, chair Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and ranking member Raja Krishamoorthi (D-IL), announced the introduction of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act on Tuesday. The bill, which has 19 lawmakers signed on so far, would make it illegal to distribute apps controlled by ByteDance, including TikTok, unless they sever ties from the Chinese tech giant.

According to The Verge, if enacted, the bill would impose a civil penalty on app stores and web hosting services that distribute TikTok and other covered services, unless the app is separated from Chinese ownership. The penalty for an app store that violates the law would be calculated by multiplying the number of US users that “accessed, maintained or, or updated” the foreign adversary app by $5,000. The bill would be enforced by the U.S. attorney general.

It also creates a process for the president to designate other social media companies from foreign adversary countries like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea as subject to the bill — meaning apps owned by designated companies that are distributed in the US would need to sever ties to continue operating there.

TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek said in a statement that the bill “is an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors try to disguise it. This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small business of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs.”

CBS News reported: For months, lawmakers have been warned of national security concerns posed by TikTok’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Last May, Montana became the first state in the nation to pass legislation banning TikTok entirely. However, that law is still facing legal challenges.

A new bipartisan House bill set for review by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Thursday would require TikTok to divest from its Chinese-based owner ByteDance or risk a ban from app stores in the U.S.

“We implore ByteDance to sell TikTok so that its American users can enjoy their dance videos, bad lip sync, everything else that goes along with TikTok,” Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, one of the bill’s sponsors, said in a news conference Wednesday.

According to CBS News, there are growing fears the personal information TikTok devours from its users could fall into the hands of the Chinese government.

“The choice is up to TikTok,” Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington told CBS News. “They have a choice to make as to whether or not they want to remain with ByteDance, that we know is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.”

In my opinion, it might be a good idea to separate TikTok and ByteDance from it’s American users. From what I understand, US officials were warned to remove TikTok from their phones a while ago.