TikTok divest-or-ban bill expected to become US law in a matter of days

The U.S. House on Saturday put legislation forcing TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance Ltd. to divest its ownership stake on a fast track to become law, tying it to a crucial aid package for Ukraine and Israel.

A massive lobbying effort led by TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Chew failed to overcome a bipartisan coalition worried about the app’s collection of data on more than 170 million Americans — and the potential for the Chinese government to use it to disseminate propaganda.

The broad legislation, which passed on a 360 to 58 vote, also would place new restrictions on data brokers selling information to foreign adversaries and authorize the confiscation of frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine.

The Senate is expected to vote on the measure next week and President Joe Biden has said he will sign the legislation.

“This bill protects Americans and especially America’s children from the malign influence of Chinese propaganda on the app TikTok. This app is a spy balloon in Americans’ phones,” said the bill’s author, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas.

Opponents of the bill like Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, could still try to strip out the TikTok measure in the Senate, but such efforts aren’t likely to be successful.

ByteDance intends to exhaust all legal challenges before it considers any kind of divestiture if the TikTok ban becomes law, according to people familiar with the matter.

“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 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the U.S. economy, annually,” a TikTok spokesperson said Saturday.