Users of the popular social media app awoke this morning to news that President Biden has signed legislation that will result in the ban of TikTok if the company does not divest from its Chinese owner within the next nine months.
The measure was passed by the Senate late last night with a vote of 79-18, just three days after being passed by the House last Saturday. The bill was part of a larger, bi-partisan package deal that includes over a $1 billion dollars in military aid to the countries of Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, as well as broader data security measures.
TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, announced that they plan to fight the law in court, with a spokesperson saying “We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and we will ultimately prevail.”
The concern from lawmakers surrounding TikTok is nothing new. For years, they have scrutinized the relationship between ByteDance, their app, and the Chinese Government, particularly due to fears of American data being collected or surveilled by the state.
The fear primarily stems from a law that requires all Chinese companies and organizations to comply with the orders of the government for matters of national security. However, TikTok has said it has never shared U.S. user data with Chinese authorities and won’t do so if it’s asked.
While the law does include the option of selling the app, it is unlikely that that will take place. The Chinese Government has marked TikTok’s recommendation algorithm, central to the app, as “sensitive technology.” This means that such an export overseas would require approval from the government—something they have indicated they are not interested in doing.
If it is sold, the main bidders would likely include American-based companies such as Microsoft or Oracle.
Though the ban is more probable to occur, past attempts at banning the popular app have been consistently blocked by the courts on the grounds of the First Amendment—such as last year, when a federal judge blocked a ban passed by the state of Montana.
It is unclear as to whether the Federal Government will run into similar issues other state governments have had in the past. Jenna Leventoff, senior policy counsel at the ACLU, said “In all cases, I think that where this legislation is going to fail is that it’s burdening so much more speech than is necessary.”
For now though, the future for the social media app remains uncertain.
