A recently presented bill, if approved, could mean theend of TikTok in the United States. The decision will face a vote in the House of Representatives this Wednesday.
In a climate of growing controversy, the United States Congress is preparing to make the crucial determination that could seal the fate of TikTok in the country. The House of Representatives will debate the Protecting Americans from Apps Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act.
If the legislation is approved, it could force ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, to divest from the platform within a period of no more than six months.
This project, which reaches the plenary session under the "fast track" modality, has generated a tense atmosphere due to the possible economic and diplomatic repercussions that it could entail with the Asian giant.
The House of Representatives requires a two-thirds vote to give the green light to the proposal, a scenario that would echo the Huawei case, when the United States veto had a global impact on the technology market.
What will happen to TikTok in the United States?
The repercussions of a ban are immense, both in economic and cultural terms, affecting more than 170 million users in the United States alone.
The tensions are palpable in the political sphere, especially among Republicans, who perceive TikTok as a threat because they believe that "it is undermining the American economy and security," in the words ofMike Johnson, leader of the Republican wing in the chamber.
Surprisingly,Donald Trump who was a harsh critic of TikTok, sees the matter now from a different perspective, suggesting that, although the short video platform presents challenges, its ban would favor Facebook, which he sees as a worse enemy.
"There are a lot of good things and a lot of bad things with TikTok, but without TikTok you are going to make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people," the former president told CNBC.
He stressed that a ban would ignore the role the platform plays in the lives of young people, although he acknowledged the need to protect the rights and privacy of American citizens.
He made his position clear against Facebook and its founder,Mark Zuckerberg, for the donation of 500 million dollars to his rivalJoe Biden in the 2020 elections.
TikTok this week countered the measure of the US Congress by launching a campaign to mobilize users to oppose the closure of the platform, alleging the right to freedom of expression and the impact on multiple creators and companies.
National security concerns are a constant in the debate, with accusations that data collected by TikTok could be used by China's intelligence services, fears similar to those that have been raised around several technology companies.
TikTok argues that its base of operations is in Singapore and that American users' information is stored outside of China and is not accessible to its Chinese employees.
Despite efforts to show transparency, incidents such as the recognition in December 2022 that some employees used data to spy on journalists eroded their credibility.
The vote on the project in the House of Representatives is part of a series of bans on TikTok in other parts of the world, such as those carried out by India and Nepal.
There is also a list of countries where the use of the application is prohibited by federal officials and government agencies. These include the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Canada, and the European Commission.
The administration ofJoe Biden, although it agrees on the concern for security, has shown an approach to the platform as a campaign tool.
Joe Biden andDonald Trump offer different perspectives on TikTok, reflecting a broader dispute over the influence of emerging technologies and the role of tech giants in modern society.
What do you think?
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