Tiktok believes the American ban undermines freedom of expression

On Saturday, it became clear that the bill will receive a majority in the House of Representatives, and that it will therefore proceed to the Senate for consideration.

– It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the attention surrounding the important support packages to once once more hammer through a bill that tramples on 170 million Americans’ freedom of expression, says a statement from Tiktok.

The bill gives Bytedance a year to sell Tiktok.

Adopted at the same time as aid packages

It was passed at the same time as a long-awaited arms package for Ukraine, a similar but smaller package for Israel and a package of humanitarian aid for Gaza and other vulnerable population groups around the world.

Many American elected officials and President Joe Biden’s administration believe Tiktok is a national security risk for the United States, because Chinese authorities can pressure the company to share user data regarding its 170 million American users.

Tiktok, for its part, has said it has never shared US user data and would never do such a thing.

May be unconstitutional

Democrat and Senator Mark Warner chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee. He said on Sunday that Tiktok might be used as a tool to spread propaganda by the Chinese government.

– Many young people who are on Tiktok get their news there. “The idea that we’re giving the Chinese Communist Party such a big tool, as well as access to the user data of 170 million Americans, is a national security risk,” he told CBS News on Sunday.

Some of the progressive democrats have also raised the concern for freedom of expression in such a ban, and would rather demand stricter regulations on the privacy of Tiktok users.

Democrat Ro Khanna, who is a member of the House of Representatives, believes that a Tiktok ban may not survive a legal review in the courts. He refers to the constitution’s provisions on freedom of expression.