President Joe Biden signed a bill on Wednesday (24) that could lead to a nationwide ban on TikTok, raising the threat to the company’s operations in the United States.
The Congress approved the bill this week as part of a broad foreign aid package aimed at supporting Israel and Ukraine. The measure was passed by the House on Saturday and by the Senate on Tuesday. The legislation represents the most serious risk to TikTok since U.S. authorities began raising concerns about the app in 2020.
According to the new law, ByteDance (the owner of TikTok) has 9 months – which could be extended to 12 months – to sell the app or it will be banned from app stores in the U.S. and from the “internet hosting services” that support it.
TikTok will contest the law in court.
In a video posted on TikTok, the company’s CEO, Shou Chew, told users: “Don’t worry: we’re not going anywhere.”
“We are confident and will continue to fight for our rights in court,” he added. “The facts and the Constitution are on our side, and we expect to prevail.”
In a statement, a TikTok spokesperson called the law “unconstitutional” and said it would “devastate” the 170 million users of the platform in the U.S. and 7 million businesses that operate on the app.
Does TikTok have a case?
Legal experts say a bill that ultimately censors TikTok users could be struck down by the courts. The main reason is that under the First Amendment, Americans have the right to access information, ideas, and media from abroad. By banning TikTok, the bill would infringe on that right.
What if TikTok is sold to another company?
The problem is that TikTok’s parent company is subject to Chinese law, and the Chinese government publicly opposes the sale.
TikTok, used by more than 170 million people in the U.S., has drawn scrutiny from Washington due to concerns that the Chinese government could use the app to gain access to private user data or spread misinformation.
Despite security concerns from his government, Biden’s reelection team continues to use TikTok to campaign to young voters.
Source: CNN