Bill that could ban TikTok in the U.S. gains momentum in Congress

House Republicans and Democrats are advancing legislation that could ban TikTok in the U.S. if China-based ByteDance doesn't divest the app.

WASHINGTON — Nearly a year after TikTok’s CEO was grilled on Capitol Hill, House Republicans and Democrats are joining together on legislation that would force its parent company, China-based ByteDance, to divest the popular social media company or risk the U.S.’s banning it from app stores.

The bill is co-authored by the bipartisan leaders of the select committee on the Chinese Communist Party, Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., who also serve on the Intelligence Committee. Both lawmakers recently returned from a visit to Taiwan and the greater Indo-Pacific region.

The White House has signaled support for the bill while stopping short of endorsing it.

On Thursday, the Energy and Commerce Committee, led by Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., plans to mark up the bipartisan bill and pass it, sending it to the House floor for a future vote. She said her committee has kept leadership "in the loop" and been closely working with the White House on the bill. Administration officials have provided technical assistance on the bill, she said.

“It’s a very narrow, targeted bill that we’ve worked very hard to build bipartisan support,” McMorris Rodgers told reporters. “This is about protecting Americans.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/bill-ban-tiktok-us-gains-momentum-congress-rcna142047

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