The US will vote on a bill to ban TikTok

Next week, the US House of Representatives will put to a vote a bill that will force the Chinese company ByteDance to sell its part to the Americans, otherwise TikTok will be blocked in the country.

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The first time TikTok was restricted was when President Donald Trump unsuccessfully tried to ban the app in 2020.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said that lawmakers would vote next week to "force TikTok to sever its ties with the Communist Party of China".

For its part, ByteDance claims that it has not and will not share US user data with the Chinese government. Moreover, it is not known whether China will allow the company to sell its stake to the Americans if the bill is passed. According to TikTok's owner, the lawmakers are trying to "deprive 170 million Americans of their constitutional right to free expression".

Prior to the vote, lawmakers were briefed in secret because of the possible threat to national security and TikTok's ties to the Chinese government.

Source: Reuters