The White House hopes the Senate will give the green light to a bill to ban the social networking site TikTok in the US.After the House of Representatives approved that initiative this Wednesday.

“We are pleased to see this bill moving forward. Hopefully the Senate will act soon.“Joe Biden's administration spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said during a press conference on the presidential plane this Wednesday.

The spokesman added that the government considers the legislation a necessary step to address a “danger” to “certain technologies” operating in the United States and endangering the country's “personal information (of citizens) and national security.” .

bill, It was approved on Wednesday with 352 votes in favor and 65 againstThis would force TikTok to separate from its parent company in China or be banned in the US.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Michael JohnsonBiden urged the Senate in a statement to sign and approve the plan into law, but the Senate's Democratic majority leader, Chuck SchumerHe did not indicate whether he would allow the Upper House to hold a vote.

Upon hearing the news, TikTok sources criticized the secrecy of the process, which they called a “barrier”, so they hope the Senate will “consider the facts, listen to its constituents and realize the impact on the economy”. The law must be enforced.

This is not the first attempt from Washington to ban Tiktok, a platform especially popular among young people; Former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) tried to ban the social network citing the same reason of “threats to national security”, although the move ended up in court and has now been overturned by President Biden.

House Republicans overwhelmingly supported the initiative, even after Donald Trump expressed ambivalence about it this week. President Trump signed an executive order to ban TikTok CNBC Banning the app gives Facebook more powerMeta Inc. suspended him for two years for his role in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Reflecting his concern about alienating the social network's core users, Trump added: “There are a lot of little kids on TikTok who would go crazy without it.”

But Trump's position did not convince many Republicans, who voted 189 to 16 in favor of the measure.

China may use social media app TikTok to influence November US electionAs the US Director of National Intelligence said on Tuesday, Avril HaynesIn an investigation by the House Intelligence Committee.

asked the Democratic representative Raja Krishnamurthy About that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) should be used TikTok To influence elections, Haynes said: “We cannot rule out that the CCP will use it.”

Krishnamurthy is the ranking Democrat on the House China Select Committee. Along with its Republican leader, Michael GallagherLast week introduced a bill to TikTok's Chinese owner, Bite DanceIt's about six months before 170 million Americans opt out of the app.

In addition to Haynes' statements, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a report to Congress on Monday warning that Beijing may try to interfere in this year's elections as it seeks to “widen divisions in American society.”

According to the report, The Chinese regime used accounts on the Chinese app TikTok to harm both Democratic candidates And the Republican Party during the 2022 elections, in which the Democrats did better than expected by retaining the Senate and losing a few seats in the Lower House.

(With information from EFE and Bloomberg)