A congressional panel in the US has approved a bill that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the app within six months or face a ban in the US.

A US House of Representatives panel has approved a bill that could force TikTok to be sold by its Chinese owner ByteDance or face a ban on the app in the US. The measure, supported by the White House, cites national security concerns. TikTok says the proposed legislation would harm free speech and small businesses that rely on the app. The bill will be put to a public vote next week.

Bells are ringing for TikTok

TikTok sent a push notification to users in the US, saying that Congress is planning to ban TikTok completely, which would threaten the freedom of expression of 170 million Americans. TikTok says that a possible ban would harm millions of businesses, while also putting content creators in difficulty. TikTok's push notification also offers a way for users to call Congress and oppose the ban.

Congress officials state that they received many calls after TikTok's call. However, the Senate must also approve the bill in order for it to become law. However, there is currently no obstacle for the bill not to become law. The bill specifically refers to Chinese ByteDance, which owns TikTok.

According to the bill, ByteDance has two options: Either to divest TikTok or to keep it and consent to the banning of the application from US app stores (PlayStore, AppStore, etc.) and web services. In the second option, TikTok will be banned across the US. ByteDance has 6 months to take action.

Why does the US want to ban TikTok?

Lawmakers from both parties in the US have repeatedly expressed concern that TikTok could be forced to hand over the data it collects on millions of American users to the Chinese government, which could be used for espionage purposes. They have also warned that the app could be used to spread propaganda and misinformation.

While TikTok has denied sharing information with the Chinese government, its CEO admitted to Congress last year that TikTok has collected location data on US users in the past, and said that some historical data is still stored on servers accessible to ByteDance engineers.

Will TikTok be banned?

It is too early to say. The bill still needs to pass both the House and Senate and be signed by the president. If it becomes law, ByteDance will have six months to make sales before any ban takes effect.

Lawmakers supporting the legislation say they do not see this as a ban on TikTok, as ByteDance can continue to operate in the US if it is divested. However, the US's attempt to ban TikTok has previously been false. Some city and state governments have already banned TikTok from being installed on government devices.