However, the application won't disappear overnight. One possible outcome is a prolonged legal battle to determine whether freedom of speech or national security is more important.

The upper house was compelled to address the TikTok ban together with aid designated for Ukraine and Israel, leaving no room to treat the matter separately. President Joe Biden had already announced he would sign the bill following its congressional approval.

Upon enactment, TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, may be forced to divest from the next-generation social media application. If it does not sell the platform, the application will be banned, ABC News reminded.

Another likely outcome is that the company will legally challenge the decision.

"The law violates the freedom of speech of 170 million Americans, endangers 7 million businesses, and eliminates a platform contributing 24 billion dollars annually to the economy of the United States," the platform had previously argued.

Under the law, ByteDance has nine months to sell.

The sales deadline can be extended once by three months, giving the parent company practically a year to find a new buyer. In this case, TikTok would continue to be accessible to American users.

The situation is complicated by the requirement to obtain approval from the Chinese government for any potential sale. In recent years, Beijing has regulated the export of domestically developed algorithms, which could also forbid the sale of TikTok, CNN reported.

"I am from Singapore" this is how TikTok's CEO, Chu Shu, has previously defended the company.

Freedom of Speech or National Security

However, there's a greater chance that the copyright owner will challenge the measure by invoking the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech an approach that experts believe could invalidate the law entirely.

"The only way US authorities can defend their decision is by claiming that national security concerns override the right to freedom of speech," stated Anupam Chander, a law professor at Georgetown University.

Such a procedure has already occurred: last May, TikTok sued Montana for banning the app, invoking the First Amendment.

In November, a federal judge ruled in favor of the plaintiff, invalidating the restriction before it could take effect.

Montana attempted to ban the app citing rights to privacy and children's safety, but this argument doesn't compare to the U.S. government's reasoning, which is based on national security concerns, said Sarah Kreps, director of the Cornell University's political institute.

In case of legal proceedings, a federal judge could temporarily suspend the law's application until the procedure is finalized.

The Ban

The ban would mean the removal of TikTok from American app stores, including platforms servicing iPhones and Android devices, like the App Store and Google Play. New users would be unable to download the app, and current users would lose access to vital updates, eventually rendering the app inoperable.

A bigger concern is that the U.S. ban might be followed by Canada and even the United Kingdom.

Some tech-savvy users may find ways to circumvent the ban, but this would be too complex or inconvenient for the majority.

However, this development could belong to the distant future. Michael Beckerman, TikTok's American leader, had also previously hinted at defending their rights in court.

Interestingly, India banned TikTok four years ago following the India-China border skirmishes, leading most of its 200 million users to migrate to other social platforms.