Social Media Is Enraged As House Overwhelmingly Votes To Pass Bill That Could Ban TikTok In The U.S.

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a bill that could ban TikTok nationwide. The bill would force TikTok to be sold off by its Chinese parent company or risk losing over 170 million Americans. TikTok itself has released a statement saying the bill is an attack on its users' constitutional right to freedom of expression.

Multiple members of the Senate have released statements on the bill, showing the divide in support. Former President Donald Trump, who previously supported the ban, has changed his stance to oppose it, saying a ban would only benefit Facebook.

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to pass a bill for a possible nationwide ban on TikTok. If it passes in the Senate, the bill would restrict TikTok from all U.S. app stores unless it's sold off by its current Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

This means that over 170 million Americans using the social media platform could possibly lose access to TikTok. The vote at the House was 352 to 65, with 50 Democrats and 15 Republicans voting in opposition.

Various lawmakers supporting the bill have insisted that TikTok is a national security threat. They claim that the app allows the Chinese government to use its intelligence laws against ByteDance and access the data of millions of app users in the U.S.

The push for the support of the bill has received a lot of mixed reactions from the various political sides. The Democrats are facing pushback from young progressives who prefer TikTok as one of their favorite social media platforms. China's foreign ministry has even declared the treatment of TikTok as an "act of bullying."

TikTok itself has reacted to the bill, calling it an attack on its users' constitutional right to freedom of expression. The app has launched a call-to-action campaign and urged its users to ask their representatives in Washington to oppose the bill and protect their interests.

After Wednesday's vote, TikTok released a statement that it is shifting its attention to the Senate, where its final date will be clear.

The statement read, "This process was secret and the bill was jammed through for one reason: it's a ban. We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents, and realize the impact on the economy, 7 million small businesses, and the 170 million Americans who use our service."

Various members of the Senate have issued statements about the bill and how it'll run through the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer remained neutral in his statement talking about the next steps in the Senate.

He said, "The Senate will review the legislation when it comes over from the House."

Mark Warner, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman, and Marco Rubio, the top Republican and Florida rep, have shown their support for the House bill. Their joint statement read, "We are united in our concern about the national security threat posed by TikTok – a platform with enormous power to influence and divide Americans whose parent company ByteDance remains legally required to do the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party."

Another major political figure in the U.S. opposes the possible TikTok ban: former President Donald Trump. He previously supported the ban bill during his presidency but changed his stance in a recent post to his Truth Social app. Trump argued that if TikTok were actually banned, Facebook would benefit significantly.

Trump heavily attacked Facebook and declared that the Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is an "Enemy of the People." During an interview, Trump said a possible ban was a "tough decision," but any benefit to Facebook is unacceptable because the app has "been very bad for our country."

Trump agreed that he does think TikTok constitutes a national security threat to the U.S. He said, "You have that problem with Facebook and lots of other companies too. There's, you know, a lot of good, and there's a lot of bad with TikTok."

The House's vote to ban TikTok sent a shockwave across social media with people taking to various platforms to share their reactions to the ban.

One person wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "The House of Representatives just passed a bill that could banTikTok. Not raising the minimum wage. Not lowering healthcare costs. Not lowering housing costs. Not lowering childcare costs. TikTok."

Another individual said, "Teachers underpaid, 0 gun laws to keep people safer, womens rights are being questioned, the LGBTQ+ community is constantly under attack…..but they got time to vote to banTikTok."

A third person noted, "The fact that they won't try and pass an actual American data privacy bill that protects user data and instead tries to ban the apps that aren't based in America is proof that this banning TikTok thing has never actually been about protecting citizens."