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The US House Foreign Affairs Committee has voted along party lines to give President Joe Biden the power to ban the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok. Lawmakers voted 24 to 16 to approve the measure to grant the administration new powers to ban the Chinese-owned app – which is used by more than 100 million Americans - and other apps also considered security risks.

This would be the most far-reaching US restriction on any social media app but the bill does not specify how the ban would work. The bill is sponsored by Republican Michael McCaul, but is opposed by the Democrats.

The Deputy Director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project, Patrick Toomey, told ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Newsday the ban would violate the US constitution.

"People use TikTok in order to get access to news, to engage in political commentary and, of course, as a source of entertainment. Banning TikTok would violate the First Amendment [to freedom of speech] which is a key part of the US constitution."

(Pic: The Tiktok application logo is pictured on a smartphone; Credit: EPA)

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