The US Senate approved a bill to ban or sell TikTok

The US Senate on Tuesday, April 23, passed a bill that obliges the owner of the social network TikTok – the Chinese concern ByteDance – to transfer it to another owner. The Chinese side is proposed to sell TikTok to a company not located in the jurisdiction of the PRC. If this does not happen within a year, the application may be banned in the United States. Two days earlier, this project was approved by the lower house of the US Congress.

A possible TikTok ban is associated with a threat to the national security of the United States. Critics in the United States accuse the social network of being close to the Chinese government and illegally using users’ personal data. TikTok management denies all accusations. The social network is used by 170 million people in the United States, which is approximately half of the country’s population.

According to the head of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner, the social network will be able to continue operating in the country only under the control of new owners, which might be representatives of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Brazil or France.

President Joe Biden has already announced his readiness to sign the new law. TikTok owners intend to challenge the law in court. They will appeal to a violation of the First Amendment to the US Constitution, arguing that if TikTok is banned, Americans will be deprived of access to the platform for free expression of their opinions.

The European Commission has launched an investigation into TikTok Lite

On April 22, the European Commission launched a formal investigation into the TikTok Lite app on suspicion of violating the Digital Services Act (DSA). According to the EC, a number of its functions lead to users, especially children, developing dependence on it. The company must respond to the claims by April 24. If the response is not satisfactory, the application may be blocked in the EU as early as the next day.

The TikTok Lite application is a lightweight version of the TikTok social network. It uses less user personal data and takes up less space on mobile devices. The app launched in France and Spain last week. One of the features of Tiktok Lite is a system of cash rewards for users for completing various tasks based on the number of video views, regular visits to the platform, etc. The European Commission believes that this encourages users to spend more time on the application and develops addiction from this. She called the feature “toxic and addictive.”