A large bipartisan majority in the U.S. House of Representatives voted on Saturday for legislation that would force the Chinese company Bytedance to either sell its wildly popular TikTok social media app or see it banned in the United States.
The legislative package, which also contained provisions sanctioning Russia and Iran, was approved by a lopsided margin of 360 to 58. Of those who voted no, 33 were Democrats and 25 were Republicans.
The legislation now heads to the U.S. Senate, which gave a chilly reception to the TikTok proposal when it passed as a standalone bill last month. But because it is packaged with popular national security measures, the chamber does not seem inclined to put up a substantial fight.
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Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), who controls the key Senate committee with jurisdiction over the TikTok proposal, had expressed reservations about the initial House bill. But Cantwell said last week she was comfortable with the bill because it gives Bytedance a year to sell TikTok, as opposed to the six months included in the House’s first bill.
If the Senate moves quickly, the legislation could come to President Joe Biden’s desk within days. The president has indicated he will sign it into law.
The development underscores how ineffective TikTok’s campaign has been to lobby Capitol Hill against the legislation. Last month, congressional offices were deluged with strange and threatening calls from TikTok users alarmed about the ban.
Underscoring national security concerns about the Chinese-owned app, a story from Politico last week reported that Chinese government diplomats were meeting with lawmakers’ offices about the bill.
