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STORY: The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill cracking down on TikTok.

If it were to become law, the measure would force the app's Chinese owner to divest its U.S. assets in six months, or face a ban.

American lawmakers from both parties have raised alarms that through the Chinese-based parent company ByteDance, the Chinese government could gain access to the personal data of more than 170 million American users.

Democratic congresswoman Anna Eshoo:

"They can weaponize this data to exploit and manipulate Americans through surveillance and disinformation."

The vote comes a little over a week since the bill was proposed, and after action in Congress had stalled for more than a year.

Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Beijing accused Washington of bullying.

And there's plenty of opposition at home, as well.

Republican congressman Dan Bishop

"The proper relationship between government and citizen in the United States is that the citizen decides what to be exposed to and what ideologies to embrace and consider. And is always free to engage in expression including across international boundaries."

Democratic and Republican lawmakers said their offices had received large volumes of calls from TikTok users who oppose the legislation, with the volume of complaints at times exceeding the number of calls seeking a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

And last month, President Joe Biden's re-election campaign joined TikTok. But last week, Biden said he would sign the bill if it came across his desk.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday the goal was ending Chinese ownership, not banning TikTok.

Sullivan on 3/13: "Do we want TikTok, as a platform, to be owned by an American company or owned by China? Do we want the data from TikTok - children's data, adults’ data - to be going, to be staying here in America or going to China? That is the fundamental question at issue here."

The bill faces a more uncertain path in the U.S. Senate where some senators favor a different approach to regulating foreign-owned apps that could pose security concerns.