President Biden on Friday confirmed his support for a bill advancing through Congress that could result in a nationwide ban on the social media app TikTok.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they pass it, I\u2019ll sign it,\u201d he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland\u2019s Prince George\u2019s County.<\/p>\n
Biden\u2019s words may provide a push for a bill that has gathered momentum quickly in Congress but still faces hurdles to passage. On Thursday, a House committee advanced the bill on a unanimous bipartisan vote, 50-0, after TikTok users flooded congressional offices with calls protesting the measure.<\/p>\n
The bill is the latest threat to the app, which has been downloaded 170 million times in the United States despite critics\u2019 concerns about data security and its Chinese connections. The bill would not directly ban TikTok but would force its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app or face restrictions that could bar it from U.S. app stores.<\/p>\n
While the bill could be on track for a floor vote in the House, where it has gained the support of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), the Senate has yet to introduce companion legislation. It would need to pass both chambers before reaching Biden\u2019s desk. Previous White House statements have been more tentative about support for the effort.<\/p>\n
But while Biden voiced support for the bill, Donald Trump, his Republican rival who\u2019d pushed for a TikTok ban while in office, said Thursday night that he no longer thinks it\u2019s a good idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business,\u201d he said in a post on his platform, Truth Social, referring to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He called Facebook \u201ca true enemy of the people\u201d but didn\u2019t explain his reasoning.<\/p>\n
Opponents of the bill, including civil liberties groups, have said it would impinge on the freedom of expression of TikTok\u2019s millions of American users and would violate the Constitution. Last year, a federal judge blocked Montana\u2019s attempt to ban the app statewide, saying it was unconstitutional for a variety of reasons.<\/p>\n
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) blocked a similar bill last year, citing its impact on free expression. \u201cWe should beware of those who use fear to coax Americans to relinquish our liberties,\u201d Paul said at the time.<\/p>\n
Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) said Friday that he still harbors concerns about \u201cthe constitutionality of an approach that names specific companies\u201d but will be \u201ctaking a close look\u201d at the bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve said all along that I\u2019m willing to work with anyone \u2014 Republican or Democrat \u2014 who takes this threat seriously,\u201d Warner said in a statement.<\/p>\n
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. In a statement following Thursday\u2019s committee vote, TikTok spokesman Alex Haurek said, \u2018This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States. The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression. This will damage millions of businesses, deny artists an audience, and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
President Biden on Friday confirmed his support for a bill advancing through Congress that could result in a nationwide ban on the social media app TikTok. \u201cIf they pass it, I\u2019ll sign it,\u201d he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland\u2019s Prince George\u2019s County. Biden\u2019s words may provide a push for a bill that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1920,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}