President Biden Signs TikTok Ban or Sell Bill
The app will be banned unless China’s ByteDance divests its stake in the platform.
A legal battle is looming in the United States regarding the potential TikTok ban. Biden has signed the bill that will force China’s ByteDance to divest its stake in TikTok or risk its ban in the U.S. The country is now readying to see a court battle between the government and TikTok.
President Biden has been vocal in supporting the TikTok “divest-or-ban” measure. TikTok argues that the legislation violates the First Amendment, while American lawmakers are continuously concerned about TikTok’s Chinese ownership. America suggests that due to the Chinese Communist regime, the app is a way for China to spy on Americans and push their political agenda. The Senate’s approval of the ban bill was directly linked to a $95 billion USD foreign aid package to Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel.
TikTok is expected to file a legal challenge as Michael Beckerman, the app’s head of public policy for the Americas, stated in a company memo. He doubled down on the company’s perspective of the legislation, which they have criticized as a “clear violation” of the First Amendment. He wrote in the memo, “This is the beginning, not the end of this long process.” Chair of the Senate’s Commerce Science and Transportation Committee, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash) suggested that the app and ByteDance are “weaponizing” data and AI to spy on Americans. Meanwhile, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said ahead of the vote, “We hope that TikTok will continue under new ownership — American or otherwise. It could be bought by a group from Britain, Canada, Brazil, France. It just needs to no longer be controlled by an adversary that is defined as an adversary in U.S. law.”
If TikTok does not comply with the “divest-or-ban law” or is unsuccessful in getting it overturned, it is likely that TikTok will be banned from the U.S. However, though ByteDance has to sell TikTok in 270 days, the legal issues around the forced sale would likely take months or years to settle — not to mention finding a buyer — and TikTok would likely still operate in the US until those issues are settled, regardless of the outcome of any lawsuits.
