US Congress to address TikTok ban again on Saturday

The House of Representatives of United States</a > will re-examine on Saturday a bill that plans to ban TikTok in the country if the social network does not cut its ties with its parent company ByteDance, and with China in general.

The measure is included in a series of texts that could free up funds for Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine, which could facilitate its approval in both chambers of Congress.

The bill would force ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to sell the app within a few months, and if it does not do so it would be excluded from the Apple and Google app stores in the United States.

It would also give the president of the United States the power to designate other applications as a threat to national security if they are controlled by companies from a country considered hostile.

TikTok has harshly criticized this initiative.

“It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives would use the pretext of significant foreign and humanitarian aid to once again adopt a ban bill that would affect the right to free speech of 170 million Americans,” a TikTok spokesperson told the AFP.

US authorities believe that the platform allows Beijing to spy on and manipulate Americans.

The lower house had already adopted a text in mid-March that provided for a ban on the application, but it has remained in parliamentary limbo since then.