Will TikTok Soon Be Banned in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts?

One of the most popular social media platforms in the world may soon be banned in the United States.

According to NBC News, a new bill working its way through Congress would potentially ban social media platform TikTok.

Brought on by concerns that the app is being used by the Chinese government to spy on American citizens, the bill gives TikTok owner ByteDance two options: sell the app to a non-Chinese company, or face a nationwide ban.

It is important to note that the concern is not necessarily with the management of ByteDance.  The concern lies with the Chinese law that requires Chinese organizations to help with intelligence gathering.

On Wednesday, the bill passed the House by a vote of 352-65.

The bill now needs to be passed by the Senate, but it looks like that could be a lengthy process.  The article explains that the bill will face a thorough review before the Senate votes on it.

One of the major concerns of proponents of the bill is the fact that millions of young voters could be influenced by fake news videos that have been dropped into their feeds by foreign governments.

Opponents of the bill are concerned that the potential ban would affect many small business owners who rely on the platform to help them market their businesses.

Others suggest that, instead of banning the platform, it would be better to warn users that their personal information may be at risk and to be suspect of anything they see on the platform.

While TikTok is the most well-known product from ByteDance, the decade-old company produces a variety of digital products.  Their first product was Toutiao, an app that provides users with a content feed that is tailored to their tastes.  They followed Toutiao with Douyin.  In 2017, the company launched the app that would become TikTok.

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