WASHINGTON — The House voted Wednesday to pass legislation that could ban TikTok in the U.S. as Republicans and Democrats alike sound the alarm that the popular video-sharing app, owned by a China-based company, is a national security threat.

The vote was 352-65, with one member, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, voting present. The bill now heads to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain fate and there appears to be less urgency to act.

"Communist China is America’s largest geopolitical foe and is using technology to actively undermine America’s economy and security," Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement after the vote, warning that TikTok could be used to access American data and spread "harmful" information.

For those just catching up: US lawmakers have renewed efforts to crack down on TikTok over national security concerns related to its Chinese parent company ByteDance. The bill would prohibit TikTok from US app stores unless the social media platform is quickly spun off from ByteDance.

The bill, called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week. And on Wednesday, it was passed in the House with 352 affirmative votes and just 65 representatives dissenting.

Many of the roughly 170 million Americans who use the app have raised concerns that banning TikTok could mean doing away with a platform that represents much more than a platform where young people can follow the latest updates about the Princess of Wales. It’s where they go to find connection, get entertained, seek information and earn a living. Some of those TikTokkers phoned their representatives in recent days to urge them to vote “no” on the bill, after the app alerted users to the potential ban.
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How likely is the bill to become law?
Now that the bill has passed the House, it moves to the Senate, where it faces a more uncertain outcome.

One major obstacle: The bill is largely unpopular with TikTok users, many of whom also happen to be young voters who could hold major sway in the 2024 US election, which senators are keenly aware of. Some TikTok users posted videos ahead of Wednesday’s vote showing them calling their representatives and threatening to vote for alternate candidates if they voted to pass the bill.

“This process was secret and the bill was jammed through for one reason: it’s a ban,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement following the Wednesday House vote. “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."

For every 30 minutes that someone watches TikTok, every day, they become 17% more antisemitic