:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/U3746NPJ2RBKDN6NOO55IIRVCE.jpg "5 questions about the law with which the US wants to force the sale of TikTok (or ban it) | TECHNOLOGY")
TikTok came closer to being expelled from the United States after that country’s Senate approved a bill that prohibits the platform from operating unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, sells it.
The video-sharing app has millions of users around the world, but faces growing questions about the security of user data and its links to the Beijing government.
The legislation, which has already passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate, requires, among other things, that TikTok’s parent company be dissolved.
US President Joe Biden pledged to sanction the law.
At BBC Mundo we tell you the main points of this legislative decision.
1. Who wants to ban TikTok in the US and why?…
Lawmakers from both major parties in the US have pushed for the passage of a law that would ban TikTok unless ByteDance agrees to sell the app to a company that is not Chinese-owned.
They say they fear that the government of that country could force ByteDance to hand over data on the 170 million users that TikTok has in the US.
TikTok insists it does not provide foreign user data to the Chinese government.
On April 21, House lawmakers passed a bill with $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan that also paved the way for the forced sale of TikTok.
The Senate approved the package on April 23, and it will now be sent to President Biden’s desk for signing into law.
This is not the first time that US authorities have attacked TikTok.
In 2020, former US President Donald Trump attempted to ban the app.
But now, Trump, the Republican candidate for the November presidential election, criticizes the recently approved legislation because he believes that limiting TikTok would unfairly benefit Facebook.
2. When could a TikTok ban happen and how would it work?
The ban of the social network will not come into force as soon as President Biden signs the legislation.
In fact, it may be several years before Americans lose access to the app, as ByteDance has filed a lawsuit to block the forced sale.
The litigation will probably reach the last judicial instance, the Supreme Court.
Additionally, the legislation gives ByteDance 9 months to sell TikTok to a US buyer, with an additional three-month grace period, before any ban takes effect.
That means the deadline for a sale to happen will most likely arrive sometime in 2025.after the winner of the 2024 presidential election takes office. If Trump wins, he could try to block the ban from being implemented.
If plans to ban app go ahead, the easiest way to do this would be to remove TikTok from the app stores like those operated by Apple and Google on their iOS and Android devices.
App stores are how most people download apps on their smartphones and tablets, so the ban would prevent new users from getting TikTok.
Additionally, people who already had the app would not be able to get future updates designed to improve security or fix bugs..
The US bill prohibits applications controlled by countries rivaling the US from being updated and maintained in the country.
And it gives the president broad powers to limit apps with ties to Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.
TikTok has been very critical of the bill that was approved, calling it an attack on the right to freedom of expression in the US.
CEO Shou Zi Chew warned that the bill would give “more power to a handful of other social media companies” and put thousands of American jobs at risk..
ByteDance would have to seek approval from official Chinese officials to sell TikTok, but Beijing has vowed to oppose that move.
Some American content creators and users have also criticized the proposed ban.
Tiffany Yu, a young disability activist from Los Angeles, told the BBC at a protest outside the White House that the platform is vital to her work.
TikTok asked its 170 million American users to contact their political representatives and ask them not to support the bill.
But the avalanche of “confusing” calls from TikTok users to congressmen and senators may have backfired.
Several politicians say the campaign worsened concerns they have about enforcement and strengthened their resolve to pass the legislation..
4. Is TikTok banned in other countries?
The US legislation could inspire similar measures elsewhere.
TikTok is already banned in India, which was one of the app’s largest markets before its ban in June 2020..
It is also blocked in Iran, Nepal, Afghanistan and Somalia.
The UK government and Parliament have banned the use of TikTok on staff work devices in 2023, as has the European Commission.
BBC also advised staff to remove TikTok from corporate phones over security concerns.
5. How does TikTok work and how much user data does it collect?
The heart of TikTok is its algorithm.
This is a set of instructions within the application that determines what content is presented to users, based on data about how they interacted with previous material.
Users are offered three main feeds in their app: accounts they are following, friend accounts, and the “for you” section.
Los feeds Following and Friends present users with content from people they have chosen to follow and who follow them, but the app automatically generates the feed “for you”.
It is feed selected has become the main target for users looking for new content and for creators hungry for the millions of views that TikTok videos can rack up if they go viral.
Critics say the app collects more data than other social media platforms to power its highly personalized system.
This may include information about users’ location, device, the content they interact with, and the keystroke rhythms they exhibit while typing.