On Tuesday, December 13, a bipartisan lawmaker group in the U.S. proposed a new bill in Congress to ban the widely popular social media platform TikTok.TikTok is no longer just a social networking app. It has transformed into a source of income for many content creators. But the U.S. government has long expressed its incredulity about the app’s security and letting citizens use it.A pair of bipartisan congressmen from the White House and Republican Senator Marco Rubio introduced the bill, which is based on the doubts U.S. policymakers have regarding TikTok’s data protection ability from the Chinese government. Lawmakers have cited the risk of the Chinese government spying on Americans through the app.Dagny Taggart@DagnyTaggart963A bill has been introduced in both houses of the US Congress to ban TikTok in the US.5520A bill has been introduced in both houses of the US Congress to ban TikTok in the US.In a prepared statement about the proposed Senate bill, Rubio said:“This isn’t about creative videos — this is about an app that is collecting data on tens of millions of American children and adults every day. We know it’s used to manipulate feeds and influence elections. We know it answers to the People’s Republic of China. There is no more time to waste on meaningless negotiations with a CCP-puppet company. It is time to ban Beijing-controlled TikTok for good."TikTok spokesperson responds to new bill aiming to ban the app in the U.S.What we know about the billThe proposed legislation by Senator Rubio is titled the ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act. It would prohibit access to any social media platform based in China, North Korea, Russia, Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela. The bill demands the U.S. President’s attention so that he can exercise his powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to execute the aim of the legislation.Senator Rubio Press@SenRubioPressRubio: TikTok allows the Chinese Communist Party to access your private data. I want to ban it.1597324Rubio: TikTok allows the Chinese Communist Party to access your private data. I want to ban it. https://t.co/g9ehOv3sfjA companion piece of legislation to this has been introduced in the United States House of Representatives by rep. Mike Gallagher and Raja Krishnamoorthi. Gallagher accused the app of not only collecting piles of user data from U.S. citizens, but also censoring news.Gallagher further compared allowing the app to continue operations in the U.S. with allowing major broadcast networks to be bought by the U.S.S.R. during the Cold War.Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi@CongressmanRajaByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is required by Chinese law to share the app's data with the Chinese Communist Party.We must take action now to protect Americans' data, and our national security, from foreign adversaries leveraging social media. twitter.com/yashar/status/…Yashar Ali 🐘 یاشار@yasharNEWSRepublicans @RepGallagher and @marcorubio along with Democrat @CongressmanRaja have introduced legislation to ban TikTok from operating in the United States.722168NEWSRepublicans @RepGallagher and @marcorubio along with Democrat @CongressmanRaja have introduced legislation to ban TikTok from operating in the United States.ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is required by Chinese law to share the app's data with the Chinese Communist Party.We must take action now to protect Americans' data, and our national security, from foreign adversaries leveraging social media. twitter.com/yashar/status/…TikTok is owned by a China-based internet technology company called ByteDance. For years, both the Trump and Biden administrations have been concerned about the Chinese government’s potential influence on the company. If this new bill is passed, the app will be officially banned in the U.S.On Rubio’s official website, a press release alleged that ByteDance is required by Chinese law to allow access to the app’s data to the Communist Party in China. Rep. Gallagher Press Office@RepGallagherTikTok is addicting Americans, collecting troves of their data, and censoring their news. It's also owned by ByteDance, which is controlled by the CCP.Rep. Gallagher, @SenRubioPress, and @CongressmanRaja introduced bipartisan legislation to to ban the app before it's too late.733219TikTok is addicting Americans, collecting troves of their data, and censoring their news. It's also owned by ByteDance, which is controlled by the CCP.Rep. Gallagher, @SenRubioPress, and @CongressmanRaja introduced bipartisan legislation to to ban the app before it's too late. https://t.co/y7gqrIbXCA"Troubling rather than encouraging": TikTok responds to Senate billIn light of recent developments, TikTok’s Head of Communications, Hilary McQuaide said:“It’s troubling that rather than encouraging the [Biden] administration to conclude its national security review of TikTok, some members of Congress have decided to push for a politically motivated ban that will do nothing to advance the national security of the United States.”She added that millions of Americans love the app and use the platform to grow their business, learn from other creators, and connect and collab with them. As a whole, the app brings the creative community together and brings joy to the viewers. McQuaide continued:“We will continue to brief members of Congress on the plans that have been developed under the oversight of our country’s top national security agencies — plans that we are well underway in implementing — to further secure our platform in the United States.”Netizens react to the new bill proposed in the U.S. CongressMost users of the app are definitely not happy with the possible banning of the app. Millions of creators who have grown their businesses on this platform are evidently agitated at the news. Some people are blaming the U.S. senators of using the Government of China's involvement in the app to spy on Americans as an excuse to maintain "US technology hegemony" only.elvib0314@elvib0314People who believed that Huawei ban or TikTok ban were only things of Trump don't see that it's never about Trump or Biden nor about national security or democracy but to maintain US technology hegemony at all cost. twitter.com/CarlZha/status…Carl Zha@CarlZhaPeople didn't believe me when I said Tiktok ban is coming. Now it's official6410People didn't believe me when I said Tiktok ban is coming. Now it's official https://t.co/eHQXLUaZ46People who believed that Huawei ban or TikTok ban were only things of Trump don't see that it's never about Trump or Biden nor about national security or democracy but to maintain US technology hegemony at all cost. twitter.com/CarlZha/status…Another user noted that people will flock to YouTube if TikTok gets banned.KEEM 🍿@KEEMSTARMarco Rubio pushes TikTok ban in Congress #DramaAlert This comes after laws in Texas to ban TikTok for gov employees. Personal Opinion: if TikTok gets banned in the US , YouTube community will come back in full force.38422Marco Rubio pushes TikTok ban in Congress #DramaAlert This comes after laws in Texas to ban TikTok for gov employees. Personal Opinion: if TikTok gets banned in the US , YouTube community will come back in full force. https://t.co/tVYsNhvMc3Here are a few other reactions:Dabi (Dr David Liu)@dabidoYTWhoa, the US just unveiled a bipartisan bid to ban TikTok. YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels may be about to absolutely explode.514Whoa, the US just unveiled a bipartisan bid to ban TikTok. YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels may be about to absolutely explode.Dave Champion, Ph.D. - aka Dr Reality@DrReality53 Repubs have introduced legislation to ban TikTok in the US.I get why govt officials shouldn't have the app on their devices, but I'm at a loss to see how TikTok is a nat'l security threat due to the banal pieces of info it may glean about TikTok'ers.133 Repubs have introduced legislation to ban TikTok in the US.I get why govt officials shouldn't have the app on their devices, but I'm at a loss to see how TikTok is a nat'l security threat due to the banal pieces of info it may glean about TikTok'ers.KT@sloyoroll01973Marco Rubio wants to ban TikTok from the US. Any chance he could just ban himself from these stupid bills?457Marco Rubio wants to ban TikTok from the US. Any chance he could just ban himself from these stupid bills?Danny O'Connor@dannyjoeoconnor@Afrikanfreak1 @Rap If this were the case Twitter, instagram, and other social media apps would also be banned, as social media isn’t owned/operated by the government.1@Afrikanfreak1 @Rap If this were the case Twitter, instagram, and other social media apps would also be banned, as social media isn’t owned/operated by the government.However, this is not the first time TikTok has faced possible banning threats from American politicians.An executive order issued by Donald Trump in his last few months in office threatened to do the same unless a controlling interest from the app's revenue is sold to American investors by the company ByteDance. However, the federal courts in the U.S. blocked Trump’s order back then. In June 2021, President Biden officially revoked these executive orders.