Will TikTok be banned in the US?

TikTok today faces the prospect of a US ban amid fears its Chinese owner poses a threat to national security.

There have been allegations for years that the Chinese Communist Party uses the video-sharing app to spy on the locations of its American users and manipulate its algorithm to carry out influence campaigns.

Following a 352-65 vote in the House of Representatives, parent company ByteDance could be ordered to sell TikTok.

The decision rests in the hands of senators who must weigh whether TikTok’s threat outweighs the headaches of the apps’ estimated 170 million U.S. users. A new owner must be found within 165 days of the bill being signed by the president.

Here, DailyMail.com explains everything you need to know about the potential ban…

What is TikTok and how is it different from other apps?

TikTok is a social media platform that allows users to create, share and discover short videos.

While all social media sites collect user data to provide them with personalized content, TikTok is believed to have the most advanced algorithms.

The app tracks exactly how long a user stays on a video and whether they interact with it to decide what should appear on its For You page.

It results in an addictive feed curated specifically for the user. According to a 2022 Pew Research Center study, two-thirds of American teens use TikTok every day.

Who owns TikTok?

TikTok is the creation of ByteDance, which was born in an apartment in Beijing twelve years ago and has since grown into one of the largest technology companies in the world. ByteDance is worth about $225 billion, according to market intelligence firm CP Insights.

ByteDance launched TikTok in 2017 and the app took the world by storm, passing one billion users in four years.

The app was an international version of Douyin, which was released in China in 2016 and now has hundreds of millions of users.

The Chinese company says it has more than 150,000 employees in almost 120 cities around the world. ByteDance, a privately held company, does not publish revenue and profit figures, but media estimates of its earnings put it on par with some of the largest companies in the world.

ByteDance’s revenues exceeded $110 billion in 2023, Bloomberg reported in December, a figure higher than Chinese tech giant Tencent’s estimated revenue that year.

The main argument is that the Chinese government can use its influence over ByteDance to turn TikTok into a tool that harms American interests.

In addition to learning what a user is interested in, TikTok also knows their unique internet protocol (IP), contact list, and precise data location. Users must allow the app to see the last two categories.

Critics say this information could allow Chinese officials to develop profiles of certain Americans and subject them to blackmail.

A 2020 executive order from then-President Trump also suggested that China could use TikTok’s data to “track the locations of federal employees and contractors” and “conduct corporate espionage.”

US national security officials are also concerned that the app could influence public opinion through the strategic promotion of certain videos.

Why is the House of Representatives trying to ban TikTok in the US?

A large number of US lawmakers – Republicans and Democrats – are not convinced that TikTok is independent of Beijing, despite being headquartered outside China.

The app has been a diplomatic hot potato between the United States and China since the administration of former President Donald Trump, who once wanted to ban it.

The latest bill in Congress aims to force the company to cut ties with ByteDance or be barred from the United States.

Its supporters say that as a Chinese company, ByteDance simply cannot go against Beijing’s wishes and provide access to the data of more than 170 million U.S. users for everything from espionage to election influence campaigns.

These concerns are being echoed by U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies — including by the FBI director this week — as well as by regulators elsewhere.

TikTok has been banned on the work phones of government employees in the United States and several other countries, including Australia and Canada, due to security concerns.

In 2020, TikTok was one of hundreds of Chinese apps blocked in India following deadly clashes at the country’s border with China. New Delhi said at the time that the bans were intended to defend against threats to its sovereignty.

What was ByteDance’s response?

Both ByteDance and TikTok emphasize that there is no risk to US user data. TikTok’s CEO has told Congress that the company was never asked for or provided U.S. user data by the Chinese government.

The company says it is now routing all of its U.S. traffic through infrastructure in the United States and is deleting previously collected data. It is also said that Douyin employees do not have access to TikTok’s US user data.

TikTok will take its fight against a forced break with ByteDance to court in the United States if the legislation is passed, according to Bloomberg.

US President Joe Biden will sign the bill if it passes Congress, the White House said, although its chances of success are uncertain given opposition in the Senate.

What happens now?

The Senate must first approve the bill before it is signed by the president.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said after the vote, “I urge the Senate to pass this bill and send it to the president so he can sign it into law.”

But the bill’s fate is uncertain in the more cautious Senate, where some fear a drastic move.

Who could buy it?

While some people have expressed interest in buying TikTok’s U.S. business — including “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary — there are a number of challenges, including a six-month deadline to make it happen.

“Someone should actually be willing to spend the large amount of money that this product and system is worth,” said Graham Webster, a researcher at Stanford University who studies Chinese technology policy and U.S.-China relations.

‘But even if someone has sufficient pockets and is willing to negotiate a purchase, this kind of matchmaking in takeovers does not happen quickly.’

Big tech companies could afford it, but would likely face intense scrutiny from antitrust regulators in both the US and China.

On the other hand, if the bill actually becomes law and survives the court’s First Amendment challenges, it could make TikTok cheaper to buy.

“One of the most significant effects of the legislation would be a reduction in the retail price,” said Matt Perault, director of the University of North Carolina’s Center on Technology Policy, which receives funding from TikTok and other tech companies.

“As you approach that 180-day clock, the pressure on the company to sell or risk being banned completely would be high, which would mean the acquirers could probably get it at a lower price.”

What happens if ByteDance doesn’t sell – or no one wants to buy it?

If the Senate passes the bill, TikTok will be banned – if ByteDance does not sell it to an American company.

If this does not happen, the app will be banned.