Republican and Democratic lawmakers have introduced legislation that would ban app stores from distributing TikTok unless ByteDance, its Chinese owner, divests control of the popular video-sharing platform.
The bipartisan bill from Mike Gallagher, the Republican chair of the House China committee, his Democratic counterpart Raja Krishnamoorthi and 17 lawmakers would give ByteDance 165 days to divest TikTok to avoid the app from being banned.
The measure could have implications for the US election. President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign has started using the video streaming service to try to connect with young voters, even though the White House previously backed a bill that would have given the commerce department the authority to ban apps such as TikTok.