House Republicans and Democrats have banded together to introduce a bill that will require the Chinese tech giant ByteDance Inc. to sell its popular video-sharing TikTok app or face a ban in the U.S.

For years now, TikTok has faced scrutiny in the U.S. from all sides of government. The app has continually been discussed by politicians as a threat to American national security, acting essentially as spying apparatus for the Chinese Communist Party. In 2023, TikTok was banned on government devices in the U.S., with a number of other countries soon getting on board.

The app has denied it’s a threat and has tried to placate its detractors a number of times, but the noose is now tightening. Banning TikTok is a brave move from politicians, considering it was the most downloaded app in 2022 and continues to be one of the most beloved apps in the U.S. The Trump administration tried to ban TikTok in 2020, but the effort came to nothing.

Republican Mike Gallagher, chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and Democratic ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi announced the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” on Tuesday this week. Nineteen lawmakers have since signed it, stating that the app is “controlled by foreign adversaries” and poses “an unacceptable risk to U.S. national security.” The bill would give TikTok 165 days to divest.

Gallagher said in a news conference that this was not so much a ban, likening the legislation to removing a “tumor” and saving a patient: the U.S. “If you value your personal freedom and privacy online, if you care about Americans national security at home, and yes, even if you want TikTok to stick around in the United States, this bill offers the only real step toward each of those goals,” he said.

TikTok disagreed, telling media that this was an “outright ban” disguised as something else. “This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs,” the company added.

While the White House has signaled its support for the bill, the American Civil Liberties Union was less than pleased, calling the bill a “trade our First Amendment rights for cheap political points during an election year.” In a press release issued today, it said this will have “profound implications for our constitutional right to free speech and free expression.”

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