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The U.S. government keeps trying to ban TikTok. The most recent attempt is the most serious yet.
On Wednesday, the House voted to approve a bill that would block TikTok from operating in the U.S. or force a sale. The bill passed with broad bipartisan support and an overwhelming majority, 352 to 65.
TikTok executives are frustrated. They see their company as a casualty of growing tension between the world’s two biggest superpowers. TikTok’s leaders believed they had fended off attacks when behind the scenes, lawmakers and Biden administration officials were crafting the ban.
TikTok’s critics are also frustrated. As the ban attempts drag on, they say they fear Beijing could pressure the company’s China-based parent company ByteDance to share data about U.S. users or promote the Chinese government’s views—demands TikTok has said it wouldn’t comply with if they were made.
U.S. efforts to ban the popular video-sharing app date back to 2020, when former President Donald Trump first tried with an executive order. Courts blocked that attempt. Then last year, several lawmakers introduced bills that would have effectively banned TikTok, but none gained traction. The state of Montana even tried to ban TikTok. A federal judge in 2023 said that attempt likely violated the First Amendment.
This time around, however, TikTok’s critics are expressing more optimism. People close to the legislation say it was written to survive legal challenges.
Still, they say the bill’s fate is uncertain. To get to Biden’s desk, it still needs to survive a Senate vote.
—Georgia Wells is a reporter based in San Francisco.
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