If the Chinese company behind TikTok doesn’t sell its share after the House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill, the social media app may be outlawed in the United States.
Included in a US foreign policy package that saw legislators approve funding for Israel, Taiwan, and $60.8 billion (£49 billion) in international aid to Ukraine was the TikTok legislation.
The US Senate will now consider the plan, and it is anticipated that they will pass it on Tuesday. Once the TikTok bill hits his desk, President Joe Biden has promised he will sign it.
In the event that the bill is passed into law, the owner of the well-known video-sharing app will have nine months to find a buyer, with the option for a three-month extension during the selling process.
ByteDance’s owner would have had just six months to sell under a prior plan that was approved by the House last month.
The business will probably attempt to overturn the rule in court, claiming that millions of users of the app will lose their First Amendment rights, which protects free speech.
Such legal challenges might prevent the bill from taking effect or greatly extend the timetable that Congress has laid out.
In a statement, TikTok stated: “It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate seven million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24bn (£19bn) to the US economy, annually.”
The CEO of TikTok has made a direct appeal to US users to oppose the law.
In a video posted on the platform last month, Shou Zi Chew addressed the app’s users and declared, “We will not stop fighting and advocating for you.”
“We will continue to do all we can, including exercising our legal rights, to protect this amazing platform that we have built with you.”
The FBI has raised concerns that ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, could give China’s government access to user data, including browser history, location, and biometric identifiers.
According to TikTok, it has never done that and would never even if asked.
In 2022, President Biden banned the use of TikTok on federal agency-owned devices by the approximately four million federal employees, with a few exceptions for law enforcement, national security, and security research.
In addition to authorizing the US to impose sanctions on Iran, Russia, and China as well as criminal organizations who traffic fentanyl, a drug that is used for pain but also abused by drug traffickers, the approved bill, which includes the TikTok legislation, would also allow the US to seize frozen Russian central bank assets to aid in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
