The proposal of banning the popular video sharing platform TikTok permanently has been passed by the US Parliament. The proposal was passed by a vote in the lower house of the US Parliament on Saturday, April 20.
360 votes were cast in favor of the bill in the lower house of the US Parliament. 54 people opposed it. The bill is likely to be taken up in the Senate next week. If passed by the Senate, the shutdown of a company in the United States would be unprecedented.
President Joe Biden has already said that he will sign the bill after it passes the Senate. Biden raised concerns about TikTok in a telephone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has opposed the ban on TikTok.
TikTok has 170 million users in America alone. Western officials, including the United States, have expressed concern about TikTok’s popularity among the younger generation. It is alleged that users’ information is collected and handed over to the Chinese government through this app. Besides, TikTok is under Beijing control and is accused of spreading disinformation through it. However, China and ByteDance have denied this allegation.