US to take strong action on TikTok; Could face service restrictions

The US ban on global short video sharing sensation, TikTok looks very close to happening as the House of Representatives in American Congress voted in favor of restricting the social network.

American political journalism company, Politico reported that diplomats voted 336-71 in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes a revision banning TikTok from all federal devices.

Colorado Representative Ken Buck suggested the addition after calling TikTok a “serious national security threat.” The company’s data collection could theoretically be used in a cyberattack if shared with the Chinese government, Buck said.

Most of the US military has already barred TikTok use for similar reasons.

The ban isn’t guaranteed to become a law. The US Senate still has to pass its version of the Act later this week, and both sides of Congress will have to mitigate their bills before they can get the President’s signature. It’s possible the ban might be altered or removed in the process.

If the Act does forbid TikTok access, though, it could bring the US closer to a wider ban of the service. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said officials were “looking at” banning general access to Chinese social media apps, and a federal-level move against TikTok would provide fuel for that case.

TikTok has repeatedly maintained that it doesn’t share data from its app with the Chinese government. Its parent company ByteDance runs an equivalent app, Douyin, within China’s borders. TikTok has made a point of hiring an American CEO and otherwise distancing itself from ByteDance’s Chinese operations.

India recently banned TikTok and 58 other apps due to its ongoing dispute with China, and it also cited security as a factor. The video-sharing service is already expected to lose billions of dollars from the India ban, and it could only get worse if the US follows suit.