By Ryder Lopez
A bill regarding TikTok and China has been passed by the House this month, bringing to national attention a growing concern in the United States. Introduced on March 5, H.R.7521 – Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act specified that if ByteDance, the Chinese parent company, doesn’t sell their stake in the app, they will be forced to shut it down distribution in the U.S. U.S citizens have speculated this is due to fears of China gathering US internet information and/or spying on people using or having the app on their phone.
According to CNN, “The US House on Wednesday [3/13] approved legislation that could ban TikTok in the United States over concerns about the video sharing platform’s Chinese ownership.” People have been complaining about China stealing data since the release, and the fact that this has been passed seems to prove these theories right.
Many people are upset because of how popular this app is all around the world. If ByteDance doesn’t sell TikTok, it is certain to cause a lot of backlash within the US, but especially with influencers and those who rely on the app for income. According to an article made by Josh Howarth, influencers alone earn an average salary of $121,765. According to Sprout Social, there are over 100,000 influencers making money on this app. This is because people use this app as a side hustle, and sometimes as their full-time job. Banning the app in the U.S. would greatly interrupt audience numbers; it could ruin people’s source of income and have the potential to ruin their lives. The bill has been sent to the Senate, awaiting a final decision.
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