What next for TikTok as US ban moves a step closer?

Critics of US efforts to ban TikTok say it violates a user's right to freedom of expression. Officials in Washington and other Western countries have raised fears about potential Chinese influence, however. — Photo: Silas Stein/dpa

WASHINGTON: TikTok is facing unprecedented pressure over its ownership and business model after the US moved ever closer to passing legislation that would force its China-based parent company to sell the platform or be banned.

Legislation that would force parent firm ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US business within a year or face being banned in the country has passed through the US Congress, and now only needs President Joe Biden’s signature to become law.