TikTok ban Bill could be fast-tracked ahead of US House votes on Ukraine, Israel aid

WASHINGTON: A Bill that would force the sale of TikTok by its Chinese owners or see it banned in the United States could get a big push as divestiture legislation has been tabled with a raft of foreign aid Bills for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan that will come up for votes in the House of Representatives on Saturday (Apr 20).

The House will have its long-awaited votes on aid Bills for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson said on Wednesday, paving the way for their possible passage despite fierce objections from the right wing of his conference. 

Johnson said the House Rules Committee would also post a fourth national security measure that would ban TikTok if ByteDance does not sell its stake in the popular video app. The Bill will also include sanctions on the likes of Iran and Russia.

While the TikTok Bill sailed through the House last month, the US Senate had declined to fast-track it, with key senators saying they would put the proposed law through the usual legislative process, which can take months.

Concerns over civil liberties have also been raised regarding the potential ban.

But according to the Financial Times, if the House approves the Bills on Saturday, they would be bundled into a single package and sent to the Senate. 

Both Bloomberg and the Financial Times say that the Senate is expected to quickly take up the measure.

Referencing Iran’s drone attack on Israel over the weekend, US President Joe Biden on Wednesday urged lawmakers to pass the foreign aid legislation, which has been stalled for months.

He has also signalled his intention to sign it immediately, saying on X: "The House must pass the package this week and the Senate should quickly follow. I will sign this into law immediately to send a message to the world: We stand with our friends, and we won’t let Iran or Russia succeed."

The votes on the Bills are expected on Saturday evening, although Johnson faces a treacherous path to get there.

The speaker will almost certainly need Democratic support on the procedural manoeuvres to advance his complex plan of holding separate votes on each of the aid Bills.

Aid to Ukraine is strongly opposed by many of the most conservative lawmakers, especially those allied with former president Donald Trump, who has been a Ukraine aid sceptic and hopes to win back the White House in November.

At least two House members had threatened to try to oust Johnson if he went ahead, and a handful came out against the Bills on Wednesday as soon as they were filed.

Hardline Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene on Wednesday reiterated her threat to try to remove him.

"Joe Biden just announced he supports the House bill Johnson is forcing forward," Greene said on X. "Johnson is not our Speaker, he is theirs. The question is how much longer will our conference tolerate this?"

In an effort to satisfy conservatives, Johnson said he would also hold a separate vote on a border security measure that contains most of a Bill that was already passed by House Republicans last year, although conservatives like Republican Representative Chip Roy quickly denounced that plan as insufficient. 

If the Senate passes the TikTok Bill and Biden signs it into law, ByteDance would have to sell TikTok within six months of the Bill's enactment or face a ban.

US CONCERNS OVER TIKTOK 

Democratic and Republican lawmakers – as well as law enforcement and intelligence officials – have long expressed concerns that Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over data on the 170 million Americans who use TikTok.

The worry stems from a set of Chinese national security laws that compel organisations to assist with intelligence gathering – which ByteDance would likely be subject to – and other far-reaching ways the country's government exercises control.

TikTok has denied assertions that it could be used as a tool of the Chinese government. The company has said it has never shared US user data with Chinese authorities and would not do so if it is asked.

To date, the US government also has not provided any evidence that shows TikTok has shared such information with Chinese authorities.

Apart from security concerns, some lawmakers, researchers and critics of TikTok posit the app suppresses content unfavourable to Beijing, which TikTok denies.

The White House has said Biden will sign the TikTok Bill if it reaches his desk. 

TikTok's Singaporean CEO Chew Shou Zi said last month the legislation, if signed into law, "will lead to a ban on TikTok in the United States ... and would take billions of dollars out of the pockets of creators and small businesses".

"It will put 300,000 American jobs at risk," he said.

Chew added that the company will exercise its legal rights to prevent a ban. The Bill gives the company 165 days to file a legal challenge after it is signed.