Tiktok reacts after move to ban app in US passes revised bill

Chinese social media platform, Tiktok has reacted after a move to ban the app in the United States passed a revised bill.

The development will compel Tiktok‘s parent company to either sell or face an outright ban.

The US House of Representatives passed a bill on Monday that follows a similar bill that was already passed by the House in March, and mooted by former President Donald Trump’s administration.

Recall that Democrats and Republicans had earlier expressed concerns about the app’s owner, the Chinese technology company ByteDance Limited, raising national security issues.

In response, the Tiktok ban was implemented; a stand-alone bill with a shorter, six-month selling limit passed the House in March with a resounding bipartisan vote.

READ ALSO:Somali govt bans TikTok, Telegram over insecurity

In a statement issued in response to the proposed ban, Tiktok said that if the bill is passed, it would move to overturn it in court.

The company argued that millions of users of the app would be deprived of their First Amendment rights.

The statement read: “It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate seven million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion (£19 billion) to the US economy annually.”

“We will not stop fighting and advocating for you,” Shou Zi Chew said in a video on the platform last month that was directed at the app’s users.

“We will continue to do all we can, including exercising our legal rights, to protect this amazing platform that we have built with you.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now