A bill to ban TikTok unless it is sold, Passed It passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday and is now on its way to the Senate. The bill rushed through Congress named TikTok directly, but it also banned other apps the president identified as “national security threats.” Technology lawyers worry the vague terms could lead to other apps and websites being banned as well.
“No one really knows who is covered by this bill,” Eric Goldman, a professor of internet law at Santa Clara University, told Gizmodo in a phone interview. “We’re focusing on the TikTok part because that’s obviously the first target. But the impact of this law is uncertain because we don’t even know who we’re talking about.”
In addition to banning TikTok, this bill Nothing is clear. An app or website must meet two conditions to be banned. First, the application must allow users to create profiles for sharing content. For example, this includes Gizmodo’s website, where users can log in to post comments. Second, you must also be “under the control of a foreign adversary,” which could include apps that are solely “directed or controlled” by someone in Russia, China, North Korea, or Iran.
Goldman Sachs said the bill does not take into account how many apps and websites fall under it. He was joined by 65 House members who voted against the bill, many of whom said it failed to take into account free speech or claimed it was too rushed – the bill lasted only four days in the House. Goldman Sachs called the bill a “performance stunt” designed to send a signal to voters about China.
You can make the case that many apps fall within the scope of the TikTok ban.russian agent Using Facebook groups to influence voters in the 2016 election.Just a few months ago, about Elon Musk’s X, the Iran-backed terrorist group Hamas spreads misinformation when paying for promotional services and blue check mark. Would Facebook and X be “directed or controlled by Russia and Iran” as defined in the TikTok Act?
“There’s plenty of room here to creatively explain how someone could call the shots abroad and not be the owner,” said Evan Brown, a Chicago attorney who focuses on technology. “The president does have unrestricted authority to add another application to this list.”
The TikTok bill could ban apps with 1 million or fewer monthly users, which is roughly the size of smaller apps like Mastodon. For reference, TikTok is about a thousand times bigger, with 1 billion monthly users. The TikTok bill covers a wide range of apps and gives the president significant power through vague provisions classifying them as “controlled by foreign adversaries.”
The entire discussion of the bill has centered around TikTok, but legal experts pointed out how it would impact the U.S. app ecosystem. Currently, the president and Congress have little power to decide which apps can and cannot exist, but the TikTok bill changes that. The legislation is likely to pass Congress quickly, but the process of overturning the decision is much slower.
To be clear, TikTok has not been anyone’s darling except for its parent company, ByteDance.The app rolled out a feature this past week that confirmed Congress’ concerns Push notification campaign and asked users to call lawmakers to oppose the bill. A Chinese foreign ministry official said the TikTok ban would “Come back and bite America,Wednesday. There are legitimate arguments for banning TikTok, but this bill is bigger than that.
This is not the first TikTok bill we have seen, but it may be the last, and if it is written into law, we will have to live with the consequences. The key factor now is whether Senate Majority Leader Schumer puts it to a vote.Schumer said He won’t push the billit remains to be seen whether senators will consider how the TikTok bill is about more than just TikTok.
