TikTok users in the United States of America could soon find the popular social media app unavailable and banned in the country.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a law on April 20, 2024, that would bar the social media app from operating if the Chinese owner does not sell its stake within a year.
TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, has drawn unwelcome attention in addition to the incessantly scrolling nature of its videos.
Legislators and security experts are concerned that TikTok’s store of personal information about millions of American users could be accessed by the Chinese government.
Since last week, TikTok has been sending push notifications to U.S. users, urging them to reach out to the lawmakers, saying that the bill could “take away YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT to access TikTok.”
Some security experts, free speech and digital rights organizations, and others have long resisted the concept of a ban, arguing that focusing only on TikTok won’t address the larger issues with social media in general.
Source: Ghana/MaxTV/MaxFM/max.com.gh/Michael Mensah Martey
