by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News April 21, 2024
The House voted 360-58 to pass H.R. 8038, which will ban the social media app TikTok in the United States unless the owner divests from the company.
This ban is part of the $95 billion package of foreign aid package that passed in the House on Saturday.
The legislation states the app will be banned in the United States if the owner of China-based ByteDance doesn’t sell its stake within a year.
The app has been under attack as a national security threat and destructive to the morals and self esteem of American youth. But it is also a powerful influence on users world views and a major sources of news.
According to a March 15 report by the Columbia Journalism Review:
Roughly one-third of Americans aged 18–29 regularly get their news from TikTok, the Pew Research Center found in a late 2023 survey. Nearly half of all TikTok users say they regularly get news from the app, a higher percentage than for any other social media platform aside from Twitter.
The report added: “Biden administration Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told Bloomberg News a few weeks ago, if Democrats ban TikTok, “the politician in me thinks you’re going to literally lose every voter under 35, forever.”
But TikTok is not expected to go away any time soon.
Legal challenges could extend the timeline for the app to be banned significantly. The company has indicated that it would likely go to court to try and block the law if it passes, arguing it would deprive the app’s millions of users of their First Amendment rights.
“We will not stop fighting and advocating for you,” TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said in a video that was posted on the platform last month and directed toward the app’s users. “We will continue to do all we can, including exercising our legal rights, to protect this amazing platform that we have built with you.”
Dozens of states and the federal government have put in place TikTok bans on government devices. Texas’ ban was challenged last year by The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which argued in a lawsuit that the policy was impeding academic freedom because it extended to public universities. In December, a federal judge ruled in favor of the state.
“The forced sale of TikTok represents a bipartisan breakthrough against the CCP’s most powerful tool of information warfare against the United States,” New York Democrat Rep. Ritchie Torres, said. “No longer will Congress stand by idly while the CCP freely weaponizes TikTok to corrupt the minds of young Americans, radicalize Americans against their own country, and amplify antisemitism on a scale and at a pace not seen in human history.”
TikTok launched a $2.1 million advertising campaign last month in an effort to stop Congress from voting on a measure to effectively ban the social media app in the U.S.
This caller left a voicemail w/ a House office urging them not to vote for the TikTok bill: “Otherwise, you're gonna see me at your House.”
“TikTok is my Google,” the caller says. “I don't even use Safari or Google anymore… I learn on TikTok more than I learn in school.” pic.twitter.com/E5JaSh32Ui
— bryan metzger (@metzgov) March 13, 2024
Legislation banning TikTok impacts how millions of young Americans get their news added by Editor Two on April 21, 2024
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