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President Joe Biden said Friday he would sign into law a bill effectively banning video app TikTok or forcing its sale, fueling lawmakers’ latest push to block the app’s Chinese owners from operating in the U.S.
U.S. lawmakers are mounting their most serious attempt to address the purported national security risks of the popular app, advancing a bill that has more political momentum than previous attempts. An effort this week by TikTok to head off the measure by encouraging users to call their representatives appeared to backfire, with lawmakers saying a barrage of phone calls they received simply hardened their positions.
The bill, which is expected to easily pass the House on Wednesday, could hit turmoil in the Senate. Asked by reporters Friday if he would support the TikTok bill if it got to his desk, Biden said: “If they pass it, I’ll sign it.”
As lawmakers prepared to consider the legislation, users of the app, which is accessed by more than 170 million Americans, saw notifications Thursday urging them to complain to their House representative about the bill. Then the app let people call their representative with a few presses of buttons.
“They made the point for us,” Rep. Kat Cammack (R., Fla.), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in an interview Friday. “They hurt themselves pretty tremendously by doing what they did in targeting members of Congress and using content creators and users of the app as foot soldiers” of the Chinese government, she said.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted unanimously, 50-0, to advance the bill Thursday. It would essentially require TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app to an American owner or effectively face a ban.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R., La.) said he would bring the legislation to the House floor for a vote next week. The bill is expected to face a tougher time passing the Senate.
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