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The TikTok ban chaos — explained in 60 seconds

Business Insider · 9m

A new bill that could potentially ban TikTok in the US is currently being discussed in Congress. While some people, including former President Donald Trump, have voiced support for banning TikTok in the past, there is now contradictory opinions on the matter. The main concern behind the ban is the app's ownership by a Chinese company and the potential for the Chinese government to access personal data or influence American politics through the platform. The current bill would require ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, to sell its US operations to non-Chinese owners to avoid the ban. However, it is uncertain whether such a sale would be feasible or if ByteDance would even agree to it. The proposed ban would not remove TikTok from existing user's phones but would prevent app stores from distributing it and hosting it on US websites, eventually rendering it unusable. The bill has already been introduced in Congress and is expected to pass in the House this week, but it still requires approval from the Senate and President Joe Biden to become law. The politics surrounding the TikTok ban bill are complex and bipartisan. Concerns about TikTok's national security implications have been expressed by Americans of different ages and political leanings, making it difficult to categorize the support or opposition to the bill. Both President Biden and former President Trump have shown contradictory stances on the issue. If the bill becomes law, ByteDance would have 180 days to sell its US TikTok operations to comply or face penalties. However, the timeline and the likelihood of a ban before the upcoming US elections remains uncertain as legal challenges are expected.