A bill that could officially ban TikTok has passed through the House of Representatives and is waiting for approval from the Senate. This bill, receiving bipartisan support, is the closest America has ever gotten to putting a nationwide ban on the platform.

The reason for the ban is because TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, holds close ties with the Chinese Communist Party. The Biden Administration has been pushing legislators to pass this bill as they believe Chinese ownership of the platform poses “grave national security risks to the United States.”

Legislators are giving ByteDance one way that would allow their app to stay in the US: selling TikTok to a non-Chinese company. If ByteDance does not sell within 6 months of the bill’s signing, TikTok would need to be removed from all US app stores.

Mike Gallger (R-WI) said, “This ban forces TikTok to break up with the Chinese Communist Party.”

With over 170 million American users, the ban of the platform would affect Americans drastically.

“TikTok is a popular platform small businesses use to start marketing their brand,” sophomore Eric Rios said. “A nationwide ban would be a big downside for them because they would need to compete with larger businesses on more competitive social media platforms.”