The US House of Representatives approved a bill with 352 votes in favour and 65 against, aiming to prohibit the Chinese social media platform TikTok.
As per the Bill, ByteDance would have to divest from TikTok within 165 days or leave America. Below are the list of nations that have banned TikTok.
India banned TikTok on June 29, 2020, due to security concerns.
EU banned TikTok on March 20, 2023. It 'strongly recommended' Parliament members and staff to remove the app from their personal devices.
Britain in mid-March, 2023, banned TikTok from mobile phones used by government ministers and civil servants. The ban was a 'precautionary move' on security grounds.
Canada banned TikTok from all government-issued mobile devices in February 2023 while citing widening worries over the Chinese-owned video sharing app.
Australia banned TikTok from all federal government-owned devices over security concerns on April 4, 2023. The ban was needed because TikTok posed security and privacy risks.
In March 17, 2023, New Zealand banned TikTok from the phones of government lawmakers.
In December 2022, Taiwan imposed a public sector ban on the app after the FBI warned that it posed a national security risk.
Nepal announced a ban on TikTok on November 13, 2023, on the grounds that its contents were detrimental to social harmony.
Somalia on August 21, 2023, banned TikTok citing the spread of propaganda and indecent content.
The Taliban ordered a ban on TikTok in April 2022 in Afghanistan, insisting that it was leading Afghan youths astray.
Pakistan has been banning TikTok repeatedly since 2020. The reason given by Pakistan behind these bans was that the app promoted immoral content.
Only if ByteDance opts to sell off its interests could the app continue its US operations.