Marrakech – The U.S. Senate has overwhelmingly voted to approve legislation that could result in the banning of TikTok in the United States.
The bill mandates that ByteDance, the Chinese tech company behind TikTok, divest the widely used short-video app within the next nine months to a year or face the consequences of a nationwide ban.
The long-announced legislation has quickly gained momentum in recent weeks as concerns grew among U.S. lawmakers about potential data security risks and surveillance by China.
Following its passage in the U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday, President Joe Biden affirmed his intention to sign the bill into law on Wednesday.
Senator Marco Rubio, the leading Republican on the Intelligence Committee, voiced a stark critique of what he described as a China-dominated, intolerable short-video status quo.
“For years we’ve allowed the Chinese Communist party to control one of the most popular apps in America that was dangerously shortsighted,” he said. “A new law is going to require its Chinese owner to sell the app. This is a good move for America.”
Read also: US Plan to Ban TikTok Sparks National Divide
In response to the Senate’s vote, the Chinese foreign ministry opted to reference previous statements it made in March when the House of Representatives passed a comparable bill.
Spokesperson Wang Wenbin reiterated the ministry’s stance on such US moves, emphasizing that the decision places the United States in opposition to principles of “fair competition and international trade rules.”
Wang has previously characterized U.S. actions as “bullying acts” that disrupt the normal international trade order.
He has warned that such actions will ultimately have negative repercussions, suggesting that they will eventually backfire.
