President Joe Biden has approved a bill that will prohibit the social media app TikTok unless its Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, sells its shares of the company.
ByteDance has nine months to sell its shares of TikTok or else the app will be banned nationwide. The law allows the president a one-time extension of 90 days if there is “significant progress” on the sale, according to NBC News. extension This means the company may have up to a year to fully sell its shares of TikTok, allowing the app’s 170 million users to still access it during the critical months leading to the 2024 presidential election.
The requirement for ByteDance to divest from TikTok was connected to the $95 billion foreign aid package that the Senate passed Tuesday, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Concerns about security due to ByteDance being a Chinese-based company have been cited by some supporters of the ban on TikTok, with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) stating, “Congress is not acting to punish ByteDance, TikTok, or any other individual company.” “Congress is acting to prevent foreign adversaries from conducting espionage, surveillance, maligned operations, harming vulnerable Americans, our servicemen and women, and our U.S. government personnel,” she said, as reported by NPR..
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has contested the security concerns raised by supporters of the bill, stating that ByteDance has never been asked to hand data over to the Chinese government. concerns Chew stated on Wednesday that the company is ready to oppose the proposed ban, and he is optimistic that the outcome will favor the social media company.
“The facts and the Constitution are on our side, and we expect to prevail again,” he explained, according to Variety.
“While we make our case in court, you’ll still be able to enjoy TikTok like you always have.” It is yet to be determined whether potential legal action could allow ByteDance to remain TikTok’s parent company and still operate in the U.S., but a previous attempt to ban the app was rejected in court. confident Former President Donald Trump attempted to ban the app through an executive order in 2020, but a federal judge ruled that he exceeded his authority and allowed TikTok to remain, per NPR.
The proposed ban on the app resembles legislation passed in India in 2020 that banned TikTok and several other Chinese apps due to concerns about ties to the Chinese government, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. President Joe Biden signed a bill into law on Wednesday that will ban the social media application TikTok unless ByteDance, its Chinese-based parent company, sells its shares of the company. ByteDance will now have nine months to divest from the company or face a nationwide ban on the app. The legislation provides the president with […]
It remains to be seen whether the potential legal action could allow ByteDance to remain TikTok’s parent company and still operate in the U.S., but a previous attempt to ban the app was shot down in court.
Former President Donald Trump attempted to ban the application through an executive order in 2020, but a federal judge ruled that he overstepped his authority through the action and allowed TikTok to remain, per NPR.
The proposed ban on the application is similar to legislation passed in India in 2020 that banned TikTok and multiple other Chinese apps due to concerns about ties to the Chinese government, as previously reported by The Dallas Express, though the Eastern nation implemented its ban much more quickly.
