Tik, tok…

The doomsday clock is ticking closer to midnight for TikTok’s US operations. Later today, the House is scheduled to vote on a White House-backed bill that would require its Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell TikTok within six months or face a ban in the US.

• House leaders have expressed confidence that the bipartisan measure will pass today’s vote, since most members seem to agree that TikTok’s ties to the Chinese government represent a national security threat.
• The chamber’s support for the bill has continued despite weekend comments from former President Trump saying he opposes banning TikTok in the US, because doing so would help its rival Facebook.

Other voices have also spoken out against the ban. Over the past week, thousands of TikTok users have flooded the phones of House lawmakers to express their disapproval of the proposed bill. The pushback was prompted by an ongoing series of TikTok push alerts urging users across the US to tell their local lawmakers to “stop a TikTok ban.”

• TikTok is also focusing its lobbying efforts on the Senate, where CEO Shou Chew began meeting yesterday with lawmakers to make the case against a potential ban or divestment from ByteDance.

🤔✍️ So, does the bill have a chance of becoming law? Short answer: it depends on the Senate. Lawmakers in the upper chamber appear less supportive of a potential TikTok ban than their House counterparts, with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) remaining tight-lipped about whether he’ll bring the measure to a floor vote.

• If he does, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has committed to blocking unanimous approval of the TikTok ban, forcing Democratic leaders to spend floor time debating the bill if they want to see it passed.

📊 Flash poll: In your opinion, should TikTok be forced to divest from Chinese owner ByteDance or face a ban from every device in the US?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure/other