Science & Technology

Senators present bill to ban TikTok in US

Washington, Jan 25 (EFE).- Two Republican legislators presented a bill in congress Wednesday that seeks to ban social media application TikTok in the United States.

Senator Josh Hawlye and House of Representatives member Ken Buck, leading the proposal, accuse the Chinese application of being a “threat to the national security” of the US.

“TikTok is not only directly associated with the Chinese Communist Party, but has been used to spy on Americans,” Congressman Buck wrote on his Twitter account.

The bill directs the executive to block and prohibit transactions by US entities or individuals with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance.

TikTok has denied accusations of this type in the past, saying it does not censor content or give the Chinese government access to its data.

In December, the congress passed a law banning the use of the popular video app on official federal government devices.

Several states, such as Texas, Alabama, Virginia or Tennessee, have already done the same at the state level, while territories such as Indiana have filed lawsuits against ByteDance for allegedly allowing Chinese espionage.

In 2019, and as part of his strategy to increase pressure on China, then-US President Donald Trump gave TikTok an ultimatum to transfer its operations to US companies if it did not want to be banned in the country, something that didn’t materialize.

TikTok has more than 100 million users in the US and has become one of the most popular social networks in the world in a short time, especially among teenagers. EFE

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