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US Congress to take on TikTok ban bill -- again
US Congress to take on TikTok ban bill -- again
by AFP Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) April 18, 2024

The US House of Representatives will again vote Saturday on a bill that would force TikTok to divest from Chinese parent company ByteDance or face a nationwide ban.

The measure has been written into a massive $61 billion aid bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, which could ease its passage in both chambers of the US Congress.

Under the bill, ByteDance would have to sell the app within a few months or be excluded from Apple and Google's app stores in the United States.

It would also give the US president the authority to designate other applications as a threat to national security if they are controlled by a country deemed hostile.

TikTok slammed the bill, saying it would hurt the US economy and undermine free speech.

"It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill," a company spokesman said.

He added a ban would "trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the US economy annually."

Western officials have voiced alarm over the popularity of TikTok with young people, alleging that it is subservient to Beijing and a conduit to spread propaganda, claims denied by the company and Beijing.

Joe Biden reiterated his concerns about TikTok during a phone call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in early April.

The House of Representatives last month approved a similar bill cracking down on TikTok, but the measure got held up in the Senate.

TikTok stops working in Kyrgyzstan after ban proposals
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (AFP) April 18, 2024 - Kyrgyzstan appears to have blocked TikTok after the Central Asian country's security services called to restrict the social media app to "protect children".

When AFP journalists in the country tried to access TikTok on Thursday, a message read: "Unable to load, please try again."

Owned by Chinese group ByteDance, TikTok has faced a global backlash from politicians and regulators over issues ranging from the mental health effects of the app on children to the data it allegedly scoops up from users.

Kyrgyzstan's digital ministry said on Tuesday it had "informed telecommunications operators of the need to limit access to TikTok, based on a decision by the security services."

Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security, known as the GKNB, is a successor to the Soviet-era KGB secret police and headed by the powerful Kamchybek Tashiev.

The digital ministry said ByteDance had "failed to comply" with legal requirements outlined in a law to protect the "mental, physical, spiritual and moral development of children."

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) expressed "concern" over the decision earlier this week.

"RSF calls on the government to lift this arbitrary blocking and define a clear legal framework to regulate platforms," the pressure group said in a post on X on Wednesday following local media reports that a ban was imminent.

Bishkek has been mounting an escalating campaign to bring independent media and civil society closer under state control.

Kyrgyzstan, which borders China and has close economic ties with Beijing, had previously been an outlier in Central Asia as a relatively free space for information, compared to its ultra-closed neighbours.

But in recent months authorities have arrested several journalists, suspended independent media outlets and passed a "foreign agents" law designed to silence dissenters.

TikTok is also in the spotlight over its data policies in the United States and European Union amid fears over connections to the Chinese state.

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