Bill to ban TikTok in US moves ahead in Congress

TikTok has been in the cross hairs of the US authorities, with the authorities saying the platform allows Beijing to snoop on American users. - PHOTO: AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) : The US House of Representatives approved a bill Saturday that would force the wildly popular social media app TikTok to divest from its Chinese parent company ByteDance or be shut out of the American market.

US and other Western officials have voiced alarm over the popularity of TikTok with young people, alleging that it allows Beijing to spy on users. It has 170 million in the United States alone.