Asian Tech Press (Jan 20) -- A U.S. Senate committee plans to consider a technology-focused antitrust bill on Thursday that would be expanded to include China's two largest social media companies, TikTok and Tencent's WeChat, Bloomberg reported.

The bill's criteria for a covered platforms would be expanded to include companies with 1 billion global monthly users or $550 billion in net annual sales, in addition to the existing $550 billion market capitalization threshold, the report said.

These new criteria will cover ByteDance Ltd.'s popular short video app TikTok and Tencent's flagship social app WeChat.

Bloomberg noted that the change is intended to respond to criticism that the legislation would enable foreign digital companies to gain an advantage.

The Senate Judiciary Committee plans to consider the bill on Thursday. A similar version has already passed the U.S. House Judiciary Committee but has not yet received a vote by the full House.