The CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, invited American users to mobilize to protect the popular video sharing platform owned by the Chinese ByteDance in the name of constitutional rights, after the House of Representatives yesterday approved a bill that it would force the company to sever ties with its owner in Beijing or be banned in the United States.
"We believe we can overcome this situation together. Protect your constitutional rights. Make your voice heard," Shou said in a video message posted on X, Elon Musk's platform.
Approved by a large majority in the US House with a solid bipartisan majority (352 votes in favor and 65 against), the bill now passes to the Senate where its fate is uncertain given that some fear a drastic move against a popular app that has 170 million users in the United States.
President Joe Biden has already made it known that he will sign the law under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, if the text reaches his desk, according to the White House.
After the vote, TikTok leader Shou Zi Chew urged users of the app in the United States to speak out and share their stories, including with their senators.
“We will continue to do everything we can, including exercising our legal rights to protect this amazing platform we built with you,” he said in a video posted on X. “We believe we can get through this together. Protect your rights constitutional. Make your voice heard," he added.
The measure, which has gained momentum in recent days, requires TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app within 180 days or see it banned from Apple and Google's app stores in the United States.
It also gives the US president the power to designate other applications as a national security threat if they are under the control of a country considered an adversary of the United States.
The renewed campaign against TikTok came suddenly, the Wall Street Journal reported, with company executives reassured when Biden joined the app in February as part of his campaign for a second term.
The Chinese reaction is angry: the move "will inevitably backfire against the United States", commented Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Wednesday, accusing Washington of "bullying".
Although the US has never found evidence that TikTok is a threat to national security, "the United States has never stopped cracking down on TikTok".
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