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China has condemned the bill passed on Wednesday in the US House of Representatives, which could potentially ban Chinese social media TikTok for users in America, with Beijing terming it as an "act of bullying" that will backfire on the US, CNN reported.
"Even though the US has not found evidence on how TikTok endangers its national security, it has never stopped going after TikTok," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin said in a news conference in Beijing today. The Chinese foreign ministry reaction came just hours before the House of Representatives voted on legislation that would force TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the popular short video app to an American company -- or face being barred from the US market, where it has over 170 million users. Wang accused the United States of "resorting to acts of bullying" when it couldn't compete fairly, claiming that such behaviour would disrupt market operations, damage investor confidence, and sabotage global economic order, according to CNN. "This will eventually backfire on the US itself," he said. The US House of Representatives passed the bill by voice vote on Wednesday, CNN reported. But the fate of the bill lies in the US Senate. A bill needs to pass in both the House and the Senate before it can be sent to the president to be signed into law. At the US House, the vote was 352-65, with 15 Republicans and 50 Democrats voting against the bill. Notably, India was one of the first countries to ban TikTok, citing 'security concerns'. The Union government banned TikTok, along with several other Chinese apps, in June 2020 over 'national security concerns'. Before the ban, the app had about 150 million monthly active users in India. Following this, Nepal also announced a ban on the China-owned video-sharing app TikTok, citing its negative efforts on 'social harmony'. Moreover, concerning the security issues with the TikTok app, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Afghanistan, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway have imposed partial or complete bans, respectively, on the video-sharing app.Chinese social media platform TikTok does not have any provisions to remove offensive content. TikTok is already banned in over 50 countries. Notably, the passage of the bill through the GOP-controlled House comes as former President Donald Trump has signalled opposition to a ban. The bill would prohibit TikTok from US app stores unless the social media platform -- used by roughly 170 million Americans -- is spun off from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, as reported by CNN. Reacting on the ban, TikTok said in a statement that its attention would now shift to the Senate, where the fate of the legislation is unclear. It slammed House lawmakers' fast-tracking of the bill and their decision to hold a closed-door briefing for members last week that highlighted the app's 'national security concerns'. "This process was secret and the bill was jammed through for one reason: it's a ban," a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement. "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," it added. (ANI)
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