Why this TikTok Ban is Different

And why I'm conflicted about whether or not to support it

We’ve been here before. Four years ago, Donald Trump signed an executive order banning the apps TikTok and WeChat, describing them as threats to America’s national security. Joe Biden later rescinded the order - like most things Trump touched, it was executed sloppily and likely wouldn’t have survived legal challenges. The Senate took up legislation to ban TikTok last year, but it languished and died. A different bill from earlier in the year also went nowhere fast, allegedly due to intense lobbying from TikTok.

But on Tuesday, a bill was once again introduced in the House to force TikTok to sell itself to a non-Chinese company, or face an outright ban. And this time the vibes inside DC are that the bill is far more likely to pass, and that TikTok’s days as a Chinese-owned company are actually numbered. The bill has key support from the White House, House Republican leadership, and leading Democrats. It passed out of committee in just two days, with an astonishing 50-0 vote. I can’t stress enough how rare it is for major legislation to move that fast with that degree of unanimity.

This are very different this time around. What’s changed? There are several key reasons why the ban or forced sale is now likely to happen. Some of these are changes in DC, and some are blunders by TikTok itself. I’m making a prediction here - the TikTok ban/sale will move forward and will ultimately pass in some form. I want to talk about the factors that make me confident in that, and then talk about why I’m torn whether this is a good thing or not.