The fate of using TikTok in the United States could be decided as early as Wednesday, as lawmakers consider a bill that could potentially ban the app for all Americans.
It's being called a power move as Congress tries to force the app to break all ties with its Chinese parent company ByteDance, citing national security concerns.
The lead sponsors of the bill told NBC News they are cautiously optimistic that they have the 2/3 vote majority they need to pass it. The bill passed out of committee just days ago with a rare 50 to 0 bipartisan vote and it is expected to be voted on in the House Wednesday.
If the House does approve this bill, it could face a tougher climb in the Senate, where some leaders have expressed concerns about taking action against an app that is used by 170 million Americans.
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“This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States,” a TikTok spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement to NBC News. “The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression. This will damage millions of businesses, deny artists an audience, and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country.”
The bill aims to force TikTok to sell and break ties with Chinese parent company ByteDance within six months or risk its ban from U.S. app stores. There's a pretty hefty threat against the app stores if they don’t follow the bill’s requests – a 5,000 dollar fine per user of TikTok, which would mean billions of dollars in fines for Apple and Google app stores.
Both the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission have warned that ByteDance could share user data — such as browsing history, location, and biometric identifiers — with China’s authoritarian government. TikTok’s CEO has said the app has never done that and wouldn’t do so if asked. The U.S. government also hasn’t provided
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CONTENT CREATORS CONCERNED
This has caused TikTok creators like Shantaquillette Carter-Williams of Dallas to worry about the future of accounts they have worked hard to build.
She uses the platform to share her experience as a heart attack and stroke survivor and spent the last four years amassing nearly 1 million followers and over a billion impressions on the app.
"I was going through stroke recovery and cardiac rehab so it was something that I used to uplift me,” she told NBC 5. “To be able to build a community based on positivity and to be able to be transparent and share my life in a way that only I can do it, it's very gratifying. It's my testimony, and I believe it's my purpose.”
She was even picked up by the American Heart Association as a heart health ambassador because of her work.
"Ever since that time, I've been working as an ambassador to advocate for heart health, health, and equity. And just to let everybody know that for me, as someone who was in her career, a working mother -- that you can transition," she said. "And this was a heck of a transition for me because people were like, how do you go from an accountant to a content creator and now a heart advocate? It's just my passion to just share my story."
She said this bill could harm small businesses that have been created through TikTok and impact community connections that have been forged across the app.
"It's disheartening because we build these large communities, and people look forward to seeing us every day as much as we look forward to showing up on TikTok every day,” Carter-Williams said. “I do understand that there are some security concerns and that there are some privacy concerns. I definitely understand that. But I’m hopeful that there are guidelines that can be met that are less restrictive."
Carter-Williams said like other TikTok users, she has plans to pivot her focus on other social platforms if a potential ban were to ever happen. She is also a comedian and a former accountant.
But NBC News has reported on some creators who recently quit their jobs to focus solely on TikTok so this potential ban could mean trouble for many creators.
“It just feels disheartening not for just myself, but there are so many business owners and millions of creators that have actually built communities and built businesses, thriving businesses that will potentially go away if this ban is enforced,” Carter-Williams said.
