U.S. pushing to pass TikTok bill

U.S. lawmakers are pressing ahead with a bipartisan bill that could force TikTok’s Beijing-based owner ByteDance to sell the platform or see it banned in the United States


BIGGEST TIKTOK USERS BY COUNTRY, 2024 (millions) 
U.S.		113.3 
Indonesia 	109.9 
Brazil 		82.2
Mexico 		57.5
Russia 		54.9
Vietnam 	49.9
Philippines 	43.4
Thailand 	40.3
Turkey 		29.9
Saudi Arabia 	26.4
Iraq 		23.9
Egypt 		23.7
France 		20.9
Japan 		20.7
Germany 	20.6
Colombia 	20.1
UK 		19.7
Malaysia 	19.3
Italy 		17.1
Peru		16.9
 
Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise aims to speed passage of bill
           

WHO CONTROLS BYTEDANCE?
 
TikTok refutes claims ByteDance is Chinese-owned – offering this breakdown:
60% Global investment institutions  
Zhang Yiming, Chinese founder of ByteDance, has 20% stake
Employees 20%

         
Former president Donald Trump attempted to ban TikTok in 2020 but has changed course, arguing ban would give unfair advantage to Facebook, which he considers “enemy of the people”

Trump recently met with billionaire businessman and GOP donor Jeff Yass, who has major stake in TikTok


Sources: New York Times, BBC, ABC News, World Population Review, TikTok 
Pictures: Getty Images
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