You, and those in charge of writing and voting for this legislation, massively under-estimate the popularity of tiktok in the US among normal people, ie, normal people who aren't normally subject to the government banning something they enjoy.
It's one thing to ban menthol cigarettes, most people don't smoke. Most people use tiktok, it's probably similarly addicting, and they're going to cut them off cold-turkey. It's not going to go well, and they're going to burn what little good will the government has in the eyes of people under 40.
It'd be a completely different story if they were doing what should have been done a decade ago, and regulated data collection out of existence with this bill, which would actually be to the benefit of everyone that's not Meta/Snap/X/Alphabet.
There are many things that are massively popular. You mention tobacco products, but sugary drinks, alcohol, pesticides, gambling, endangered species products, over-powered home electronics, and similar have all enjoyed popularity and have been banned or severely regulated and restricted by governments in the world. I've yet to see any of these "not going well", so I think regulating a social media site will be okay. It seems to me like people are often grateful for this moderation after a period of adjustment.
But speaking of adjustment... There is far too much dopamine-bomb content to consume online for the time we have to consume it. So I don't think anyone's online diet would have to change at all, even if TikTok ceased to exist entirely.
You can't compare vast swaths of your population getting lung cancer and emphysema or rich people not being able to buy knives with ivy inlays to banning a medium where the common folk can communicate, run businesses, and generally conduct their lives.
The fallout from this WILL be a political and constitutional catastrophe that Washington will never likely recover from.
Lol, of course you can. Social media causes plenty of health issues. Mental health issues specifically. Also, no one is banning communication. You can communicate in many other ways that exploit you less. Common folk communicating, running business, and conducting their lives was all doable before TikTok, what are you on?
Funny enough, Discord is probably on the block too if this passes, being that China owns a significant amount of it. Meta could also be at-risk if China owns 20% of their stock, as could any other qualifying media company.
More or less, China could buy 20% of any qualifying company, and get it banned under this law.
It's one thing to ban menthol cigarettes, most people don't smoke. Most people use tiktok, it's probably similarly addicting, and they're going to cut them off cold-turkey. It's not going to go well, and they're going to burn what little good will the government has in the eyes of people under 40.
It'd be a completely different story if they were doing what should have been done a decade ago, and regulated data collection out of existence with this bill, which would actually be to the benefit of everyone that's not Meta/Snap/X/Alphabet.