The passage of a Bill that would potentially ban TikTok will put more than 300,000 American jobs at risk, says TikTok chief.
A bipartisan bill that would require Chinese company ByteDance to sell the popular video app TikTok or face a ban in the United States had passed overwhelmingly in the House earlier this week.
Responding to the development, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said that the bill would take “billions of dollars out of the pockets of creators and small businesses”.
“It will also put more than 300,000 American jobs at risk and it will take away your TikTok,” he said in a video message posted on TikTok and X.
The Chinese foreign ministry said the legislation “runs contrary to the principles of fair competition and justice”.
“When someone sees a good thing another person has and tries to take it for themselves, this is entirely the logic of a bandit,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters at a news conference in Beijing.
The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (H.R. 7521), which would protect Americans and prevent foreign adversaries like China from targeting, surveiling, and manipulating the American people through online applications such as TikTok, was passed by 352 to 65 votes Wednesday.
The legislation needs the approval of the Senate and be signed by the President to become law.
The Bill requires Beijing-based Bytedance to divest TikTok and other applications it controls within 180 days after enactment of the bill, or those apps will be prohibited in the United States.
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