Joe Biden Signs Law, TikTok May Be Banned in the United States
In a move that shakes the social media landscape, President Joe Biden has officially signed into law a mandate requiring ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, to sell the app to an American buyer within a year or face a ban in the United States.
The company has responded by calling the legislation unconstitutional and has vowed to challenge it in court.
Just after the U.S. Senate approved the bill dictating TikTok's ban or forced sale, President Biden, following through on earlier indications, signed the bill into law. This decision seemingly seals the fate of the widely popular app owned by ByteDance in the U.S.
In response to the unfolding events, TikTok issued a statement condemning the law as unconstitutional and announced plans to contest it in court. This legal battle could delay the app’s potential transfer to American hands or, if ByteDance refuses to divest, its ban in the U.S.
"We believe that facts and law are clearly on our side, and we are confident that we will prevail. The reality is that we’ve invested billions of dollars to protect the data of American users and to shield the platform from external influence and manipulation. This ban could effectively erase seven million businesses and silence the voices of 170 million Americans," ByteDance stated.
Under the terms of the newly signed law, ByteDance has one year to complete the sale of TikTok. Failure to do so could lead to the app’s prohibition in the United States. The move to purchase the platform had previously attracted interest from a former U.S. Treasury Secretary. However, the bill faced criticism shortly after its proposal, alleging that the politicians pushing for TikTok’s ban could personally benefit from it. In a related development, an American legislator apologized for voting in favor of the ban.
Just after the U.S. Senate approved the bill dictating TikTok's ban or forced sale, President Biden, following through on earlier indications, signed the bill into law. This decision seemingly seals the fate of the widely popular app owned by ByteDance in the U.S.
In response to the unfolding events, TikTok issued a statement condemning the law as unconstitutional and announced plans to contest it in court. This legal battle could delay the app’s potential transfer to American hands or, if ByteDance refuses to divest, its ban in the U.S.
"We believe that facts and law are clearly on our side, and we are confident that we will prevail. The reality is that we’ve invested billions of dollars to protect the data of American users and to shield the platform from external influence and manipulation. This ban could effectively erase seven million businesses and silence the voices of 170 million Americans," ByteDance stated.
Under the terms of the newly signed law, ByteDance has one year to complete the sale of TikTok. Failure to do so could lead to the app’s prohibition in the United States. The move to purchase the platform had previously attracted interest from a former U.S. Treasury Secretary. However, the bill faced criticism shortly after its proposal, alleging that the politicians pushing for TikTok’s ban could personally benefit from it. In a related development, an American legislator apologized for voting in favor of the ban.
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Translated by AI
