The Take: Is a US bill that could ban TikTok a step down a slippery slope?

If a bill passed in the House of Representatives becomes law, it could effectively end TikTok in the US.

Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (D-IL) speaks as she is joined by fellow House members Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) and TikTok creators during a press conference to voice their opposition to the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act," pending crackdown legislation on TikTok in the House of Representatives, on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, March 12, 2024
US Representative Delia Ramirez, a Democrat from Illinois, is joined by fellow House of Representatives members and TikTok creators during a news conference to oppose legislation that would crack down on TikTok on March 12, 2024 [Craig Hudson/Reuters]

A potential TikTok ban in the United States is edging closer to becoming law. The House of Representatives, citing national security concerns, passed a bill that would force the video-sharing app’s Chinese owner to sell it or see it blocked in the US. If the bill makes it through the Senate, President Joe Biden has indicated he would sign it into law. But protesting TikTok users say targeting one app also targets freedom of information and creators’ livelihoods.

In this episode: 

  • Alexander Howard (@digiphile), author and analyst of digital government issues
  • Callie Goodwin (@CallieGoodwin), founder of Sparks of Joy Co

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Sarí el-Khalili, Ashish Malhotra, Negin Owliaei and Amy Walters with our host, Malika Bilal. Chloe K Li and Khaled Soltan fact-checked this episode.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik, and Adam Abou-Gad is our engagement producer.

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

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Source: Al Jazeera

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