TikTok says US ban would “trample free speech” as House passes updated bill · TechNode

The US House of Representatives voted 360-58 on an updated bill on April 20 to force Chinese firm ByteDance to sell its short video app TikTok or see it banned. The bill is now expected to go to the Senate this Tuesday. The TikTok bill is part of a $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and other US allies, and extends the deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok from six months to nine months compared to a similar bill passed in March. The short video platform said in a statement that the House is “using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill,” which would “trample free speech” for 170 million Americans. [TechNode reporting]