As the US presidential election approaches, unrest has indeed arisen again within the country.

On Tuesday, March 5, local time, the US House of Representatives "Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party" (hereinafter referred to as the "China Committee") proposed a legislative bill,requiring Tuke tech company ByteDance to divest its short video application Tuke within 165 days, or else face being banned from major app stores.

According to Reuters, the bill is expected to undergo a preliminary vote on Thursday, March 7, local time.

Chairman of the US House "China Committee" Gallagher (left) and senior Democratic member Krishnamoorthi. Image source: US media

According to information disclosed by the House of Representatives, the proposal was jointly put forward by "China Committee" Chairman Mike Gallagher and senior Democratic member Raja Krishnamoorthi, among others, citing the need to address so-called "national security concerns" posed by Tuke.

Gallagher also threatened: "America's number one adversary has no right to control America's mainstream media platforms. Unless the relationship with China-controlled ByteDance is terminated, Tuke's days in the US are over."

In response, Tuke spokesperson Alex Haurek also quickly responded on the same day, stating that,no matter how the proposers dress up their true intentions, this bill is essentially a comprehensive ban on Tuke, which will trample on the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of an important platform for growth and job creation.

If this bill is passed, ByteDance will face a deadline of about five months to divest Tuke. In addition, web hosting companies and app stores, such as giants Apple and Google, will also be forced to stop supporting Tuke and other apps associated with ByteDance.

Of course, the proposal still needs to be matched with corresponding legislation in the Senate, and will be reviewed and possibly voted on at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. If passed, the bill could pose a major threat to ByteDance's ownership of Tuke.

In fact, this is not the first time the US has demanded that ByteDance forcibly sell Tuke.

Previously, the Trump administration attempted to force the sale of Tuke and announced a ban on downloading Tuke and other Tuke apps in the US, but these measures were rejected by some courts.

In 2022, President Joe Biden signed legislation banning access to and use of Tuke on government devices to prevent Tuke from obtaining government data through device permissions.

On May 17 last year, Montana signed a bill banning entities from offering Tuke downloads statewide.Montana also became the first state in the US to comprehensively ban Tuke. However, before the bill took effect on January 1, 2024, it was blocked by a US judge on the grounds that the ban violated users' freedom of speech.

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signs the state's Tuke ban bill. Image source: AP

To alleviate these security concerns, Tuke CEO Shou Zi Chew has been questioned by the US Congress more than once and has taken a series of measures, including storing US users' app data on US servers.

But for now, some in the US government still believe that Tuke poses a significant threat.

It is worth mentioning that the American public's attitude toward a comprehensive ban on Tuke has changed significantly. According to the latest survey released by the Pew Research Center in December 2023, public support for a Tuke ban in the US has dropped from 50% to 38%. It is believed that as time goes by, more and more Americans will take a reserved attitude toward a comprehensive ban on Tuke.

Tuke CEO Shou Zi Chew testifies before the US Congress. Image source: US media

In addition, it is ironically noteworthy that in order to attract the support of young voters, US President Biden, who previously advocated for a Tuke ban, actually opened a Tuke account on February 11 and posted several short videos to campaign for his re-election.

With these factors at play, coupled with Tuke's popularity in the US, it will not be easy for the House of Representatives to get the proposal passed in this election year of 2024.