The United States House of Representatives has passed a bill ordering TikTok to sever all ties with its Chinese parent company ByteDance within six months. If the platform fails to comply, it would be banned in the United States. The vote used expedited procedures that require a two-thirds majority in the chamber for passage. It remains to be seen how the Senate, where some members favor a different approach, will vote next.
China has stated that banning TikTok in the United States would amount to a strategic misstep for the world’s leading power. TikTok has been under intense scrutiny for months, with many officials arguing the short-video app enables Beijing to monitor and influence its roughly 170 million American users, a charge the company denies vigorously. Beijing has described what it calls a coercive campaign against the platform.
The FBI, the Department of Justice and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence held a classified briefing for House members on Tuesday. “We answered many questions from members and gave them more detail on what is at stake and how the Chinese Communist Party could jeopardize American families,” said Steve Scalise, the House Republican leader.
Shou Zi Chew, TikTok’s chief executive, is scheduled to visit the Capitol on Wednesday as part of a previously arranged trip to address senators. A company official said the legislation has a clear outcome: a full ban on TikTok in the United States. “The government is trying to strip 170 million Americans of their constitutional right to free expression,” the spokesman added.
Opponents of the bill, including Democratic Representative Maxwell Frost, argued days earlier that the measure would likely pass in the House. Frost noted that many supporters say they want to protect users, a goal he personally endorses. He was among a small group of four of the 432 House members who publicly opposed the bill. “The issue is the process, the timeline, and the consequences that people may not fully grasp,” Frost said. “I would like to see TikTok ownership change, but not at the expense of First Amendment rights, business owners, and content creators.”
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the aim is to end Chinese ownership, not merely to ban TikTok. “Do we want TikTok, as a platform, to be owned by a U.S. company or by China? Do we want its data for children and adults to stay here or go to China?”
It is unclear whether China would approve any sale or whether ByteDance could unwind its stake in TikTok within six months. The bill would give ByteDance 165 days to divest the platform. If it fails, app stores operated by Apple, Google and others would be barred from offering or hosting TikTok.
In 2020, former president Donald Trump sought to ban TikTok and WeChat, both Chinese-owned, but federal courts blocked the move. There has been renewed concern about a broader prohibition in recent days.