The U.S. Senate, by a large margin, approved a bill on Tuesday that would prohibit TikTok in the country if its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is unable to sell the well-known short video app within the next nine months to a year.
TakeAway Points:
- The U.S. Senate approved a bill on Tuesday that would prohibit TikTok in the country if its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is unable to sell the well-known short video app within the next nine months to a year.
- U.S. President Joe Biden has stated he will sign it into law on Wednesday.
- Apple’s app shops, Alphabet’s Google, and other app stores would not be able to lawfully offer TikTok or supply web hosting services to ByteDance-controlled apps or TikTok’s website if ByteDance was unable to divest TikTok.
TikTok Prohibition Bill to be Signed into Law
The bill was passed by the US House of Representatives on Saturday and US President Joe Biden has stated he will sign it into law on Wednesday. The bill was prompted by widespread concerns among US lawmakers that China may access US data or spy on people via the app.
“For years, we’ve allowed the Chinese Communist party to control one of the most popular apps in America, that was dangerously shortsighted,” said Senator Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee. “A new law is going to require its Chinese owner to sell the app. This is a good move for America.”
Conflict over TikTok
The four-year conflict between Washington and Beijing over TikTok, a social media platform used by 170 million Americans, is only one front in this struggle over technology and the internet. Concerns about Chinese national security prompted Beijing to compel Apple last week to remove Meta Platforms’ WhatsApp and Threads from the Chinese App Store.
TikTok intends to contest the bill on First Amendment grounds, and users using the platform anticipate filing lawsuits once more. In November, a U.S. judge in Montana overturned a state ban on TikTok, invoking the right to free speech.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, prohibiting or demanding TikTok’s divestiture would “set an alarming global precedent for excessive government control over social media platforms. If the United States now bans a foreign-owned platform, that will invite copycat measures by other countries.”
TikTok, which maintains that it has not shared and would not share user data from Americans with the Chinese government, did not immediately respond to requests for comment but informed staff that it would file a lawsuit as soon as possible to try to stop the law.
“This is the beginning, not the end, of this long process,” TikTok told staff on Saturday in an email.
Attached to a package to provide $95 billion in military aid for Taiwan, Israel, and Ukraine, the bill was approved by the Senate 79 to 18. Adopted just a few weeks ago, the TikTok divestiture policy received expedited approval.
When it came to attempting to ban TikTok and Tencent’s Chinese-owned WeChat in the US in 2020, the courts stopped then-President Donald Trump.
On the other hand, analysts predict that in the event that ByteDance is unable to divest the app, the new legislation will provide the Biden administration with a better legal foundation upon which to refuse TikTok.
Alphabet’s Google and others Might Withdraw Partner
Apple’s app shops, Alphabet’s Google, and other app stores would not be able to lawfully offer TikTok or supply web hosting services to ByteDance-controlled apps or TikTok’s website if ByteDance was unable to divest TikTok.
Additionally, the plan would give the White House new authority to prohibit or order the sale of other foreign-owned apps that it determines pose a security risk.
Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat, stated that his biggest concern about the measure was “broad authority that may be misused by a future administration to violate Americans’ First Amendment rights.”
After the bill is passed, ByteDance will have 270 days to divest TikTok’s US operations; if talks go well, this deadline may be extended by an extra three months.
Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat, stated that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for ByteDance to sell by the beginning of 2025. He also stated that such a sale would be among the most costly and intricate transactions in history, including several months or maybe years of research.
“We should be very clear about the likely outcome of this law. It’s really just a TikTok ban. Censorship is not who we are as a people. We should not downplay or deny this trade-off.” Markey said.
