US wants ban: TikTok boss mobilizes users

TikTok boss: “Make sure your voices are heard”.

Tiktok boss Shou Ji Siew The video platform has called on users to take action against the ban on the app in the US. “Protect your constitutional rights,” he said in an online video on Wednesday.

“Make sure your voices are heard.” The 170 million Tiktok users Americans should continue to share their stories on platforms – with relatives, friends and “your senators”.

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted in favor of legislation that would force Chinese internet giant Bites to sell its subsidiary TikTok. Otherwise, a successful video site risks being banned. Biden is suspected of giving the Chinese Communist Party access to user data.

After the House of Representatives, it's the US Senate's turn to pass the bill — hence the TikTok boss' plea for users to contact senators. Some influential senators have already spoken out against the bill.

Former Republican president and renewed presidential candidate Donald Trump this week opposed the TikTok ban. However, Trump did a 180-degree turn. While he was president, he campaigned to restrict the use from the Bidens.

However, the White House has already announced that if it passes both houses of Congress, President Joe Biden will sign the bill into law. Beijing criticized the proposed law as “Bullying behavior” and vaguely warned that this approach “will inevitably cause trouble for the United States”.

The US federal government has already banned TikTok from their work cell phones due to data security concerns. However, no previous attempts have been made to ban the app nationwide. TikTok has long overtaken competitors like Facebook and Instagram. TikTok has more than a billion users worldwide.