MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – A bill that could ban TikTok continues to move through Congress after passing the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The bill aims to crack down on national security concerns related to apps.
Experts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggest the bill would not necessarily ban apps entirely.
“My personal opinion is that that's not really what everyone is looking for here,” said Drew Schroeder, a national security research strategist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “More leverage is needed to separate TikTok from the Chinese government and increase transparency about how TikTok handles user data and algorithms.”
The bill is currently before the Senate, but its future remains uncertain.
If passed, TikTok's parent company ByteDance would have about six months to sell the app to a U.S. government-approved buyer. Schroeder said there are concerns about how younger users rely on apps as their first source for finding information.
“There are also concerns that if the algorithm is controlled by ByteDance, it may have ties to the Chinese government,” Schroeder said.
If Chinese companies do not comply, their apps will no longer be available for download in app stores, but existing downloads will not be immediately affected.
“Even if we reach the point where some kind of ban is in place…TikTok won't suddenly disappear from the 170 million user devices in the U.S.,” Schroeder said.
Schroeder said that's probably why Congress is passing the bill now, in the middle of a presidential election cycle.
“We are in an election year and the Chinese government is using not just TikTok but other means to try to influence American politics and influence the people who are deciding who to vote for in the United States. We are concerned that they are trying to give us a lot of money,” Schroeder said.
After the bill was introduced in the Senate, President Biden said he would sign it into law if introduced.
click here Download the WMTV15 News App or the WMTV15 First Alert Weather App.
Copyright 2024 WMTV. All rights reserved.
