Last month, the House passed a bill that would require TikTok’s parent company to sell its U.S. business to a company without ties to the Chinese government, or face a ban of the TikTok app in the United States.
In Washington, which has become increasingly hawkish toward the Chinese government, worries and fears about the Chinese Communist Party’s role in ByteDance are widespread.
But outside Capitol Hill, millions of people — especially younger Americans — use TikTok everyday for entertainment and increasingly for search.
Representative Mike Gallagher, the Wisconsin Republican, is a co-sponsor of the legislation — he’s about to leave Congress but if this becomes law, it will have an effect on social media and U.S.-China relations long after his departure.
Many lawmakers in both parties are concerned about the effects of social media on teens.
Persons:
Mike Gallagher, Donald Trump’s
Organizations:
Communist, Wisconsin Republican
Locations:
United States, Washington, ByteDance, Hill, China