The House is voting on a bill that could ban TikTok in the US, threatening the Tikonomy

Ticked off… US leaders have been trying to ban TikTok over national-security concerns since 2020, but now the app’s facing what could be its biggest existential threat yet. Today the House of Representatives is set to vote on a congressional bill that could lead to a US-wide TikTok ban. President Biden said that if Congress passed the bill, he’d sign it into law. The bipartisan legislation would force TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, to separate from the app within 180 days or be banned in the States. The bill’s expected to pass in the House, but its fate in the Senate is cloudier.

• Not just TikTok: While the Tok was singled out, the bill says that any app controlled by a “foreign adversary” (ahem, China) must be banned or divested. Divesting could include selling to a US company or spinning off.

• Two sides: Supporters say the bill’s necessary to protect American data from the Chinese gov’t. TikTok and other critics argue it would curb free-expression rights for 170M American TikTok users.

ForYou rage… TikTok — which called the bill an “outright ban” — has been sending users push alerts, urging them to contact Congress (the strategy seems to be working). ByteDance doesn’t want to lose its TikTok cash machine, though it does own several other big apps, including Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese sister app (the OG TikTok). Refresher: TikTok isn’t available in China, and American platforms like Google and Facebook are blocked there.

• Long saga: Senators intro’d a Tik-ban bill last year (which was stalled). Montana passed a statewide ban, but a judge blocked it (now it’s appealing). Former President Trump tried a nationwide ban in 2020. This week he pivoted, saying a ban would only help Meta.