HOUSE TIKTOK RESET

Part of Ukr. pack

The House will vote on a bill that will force a sale or total ban of China-owned TikTok as soon as Saturday — after Speaker Mike Johnson signaled the measure will be bundled with a foreign-aid package for Ukraine and Israel.

The modified version of the fast-tracked legislation would give Beijing-based ByteDance up to a year to divest its stake in TikTok or be banned in the US, Bloomberg reported. That’s an increase from the six-month window from the bill’s original version, which the House passed by an overwhelming majority last month.

House lawmakers are expected to pass the bundled bills this weekend, setting up a vote in the Senate that could take place next week. President Biden has indicated he would sign the TikTok ban-or-sale bill if it reaches his desk.

The timeline extension could help assuage the bill’s critics in the Senate, some of whom have argued the six-month window was too tight to complete a sale.

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), who had expressed reservations about the legislation, said she now supports it.

“I’m very happy that Speaker Johnson and House leaders incorporated my recommendation to extend the ByteDance divestment period from six months to a year,” Cantwell said in a statement. “As I’ve said, extending the divestment period is necessary to ensure there is enough time for a new buyer to get a deal done. I support this updated legislation.”

Some experts had expressed skepticism the Senate would hold a vote on the bill before the November elections and risk upsetting the popular app’s supporters.

Spying tool?

Lawmakers from both parties have pushed for a crackdown on TikTok due to concerns that the app, which has more than 170 million American users, could be used as a spying and propaganda tool for the Chinese government. TikTok officials deny wrongdoing.

A recent report released by US intelligence officials found that TikTok has played a role in “malign-influence operations,” with “accounts run by a PRC [People’s Republic of China] propaganda arm reportedly targeted candidates from both political parties during the US midterm election cycle in 2022.”

TikTok has vowed to fight any forced sale in court, arguing the House bill is a de facto ban and that a deal couldn’t be completed in six months.