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A US congressional effort to force TikTok’s Chinese owner to divest the app has gained steam after House Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled a new package of legislation that could compel the Senate to support the measure.
The Republican Speaker said the House would vote on three funding bills — for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan — and a fourth bill that contains language on the popular video-sharing app similar to that of a measure which last month easily passed the House but has languished in the Senate.
Assuming the House backs the bills in votes on Saturday, they would be bundled into one package and sent to the Senate, according to people familiar with the plan. That would significantly boost the odds that the Senate passes the measure, since many senators will be reluctant to scupper military funding for Ukraine.
President Joe Biden has backed the plan. “The House must pass the package this week and the Senate should quickly follow,” he said on Wednesday. “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 House in March overwhelmingly backed a bill to force ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, to divest it within 180 days or else app stores would be banned from distributing it. The move followed briefings from national security officials who warned that China could gain access to Americans’ personal data held on the app.
TikTok denies that the Chinese government has any control over the app or the ability to access user data. It says any move that would result in a ban infringes the right to free speech. TikTok did not comment.
The Senate has been slower to consider the measure, partly because it moves more deliberately than the House. Some lawmakers also have concerns about whether the ban violates the constitutional right to free speech.
The new TikTok bill gives ByteDance 270 days to divest the app, bringing the deadline past the US election in November. It would also give the president authority to issue a one-time extension of 90 days.
Maria Cantwell, the influential Democratic chair of the Senate commerce committee who had raised concerns about earlier efforts on TikTok that failed, welcomed the new legislation from the House.
“I’m very happy that Speaker Johnson and House leaders incorporated my recommendation to extend the ByteDance divestment period from six months to a year,” Cantwell said. “Extending the divestment period is necessary to ensure there is enough time for a new buyer to get a deal done.”
Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate majority leader, has previously warned about a national security threat from TikTok but has not clarified his stance since the bill passed the House. Mike Pence, the former Republican vice-president, recently launched a $2mn advertising campaign to pressure Schumer to support the House bill.
Jacob Helberg, a member of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, said senators were examining the issue and “quickly coming to the same conclusion as their colleagues in the House”.
“The House vote on the TikTok bill clearly shows the public overwhelmingly supports a divestiture,” he said. “The Senate is taking notice.”
While Biden has backed the effort on TikTok, his re-election campaign is using the app, which has been downloaded by 170mn Americans, to help him connect with younger voters.
