House passes bill to ban TikTok unless app is bought by US company

The bill will now make its way to the Democrat-led Senate.

A total of 197 Republicans voted "Yea," while 15 voted "Nay." On the Democratic side, those totals were 155 and 50, respectively.

The bill was introduced by Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher and his Democratic counterpart Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi last week.

In response, app executives fired out notifications to users urging them to "speak out."

"Stop a TikTok shutdown," the notification reads. "Congress is planning a total ban of TikTok. Speak up now–before the government strips 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression."

TikTok argued that, if lawmakers went ahead and banned the app, the situation would "damage millions of businesses, destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country, and deny artists and audience."

According to Spectator reporter Matthew Foldi, users of the platform proceeded to threaten suicide and assassination in phone calls to their local representatives.

Rumble has since steped in, offering to help buy and operate TikTok in the US.

"In the event that ByteDance divests its ownership in TikTok, Rumble is ready to join a consortium with other parties seeking to acquire and operate TikTok inside the United States. Specifically, we are ready to serve as a cloud technology partner," Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski asid in a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.

This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.