A statewide ban on TikTok could result from legislation that Congress finalised on Tuesday, posing a serious danger to the company’s US operations. As a component of a comprehensive foreign aid package intended to assist Israel and Ukraine, the bill was approved by the Senate. On Saturday, the House gave it their approval. It is currently on President Joe Biden’s desk. TikTok would have to find a new owner within months or face complete banishment from the US if he approves the law, as is likely.
What we know and how it might impact you are listed below.The bill approved this week is an updated version of a bill that House lawmakers approved in March. It gives TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, 270 days to sell TikTok. Failure to do so would lead to significant consequences: TikTok would be prohibited from US app stores and from “internet hosting services” that support it.
That would effectively restrict new downloads of the app and interaction with its content. If signed this week, the deadline for a sale would fall in January 2025. Under the legislation, however, Biden could extend the deadline another 90 days if he determines there’s been progress toward a sale, giving TikTok potentially up to a year before facing a ban.The bill approved this week is an updated version of a bill that House lawmakers approved in March. It gives TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, 270 days to sell TikTok. Failure to do so would lead to significant consequences: TikTok would be prohibited from US app stores and from “internet hosting services” that support it.
That would effectively restrict new downloads of the app and interaction with its content. If signed this week, the deadline for a sale would fall in January 2025. Under the legislation, however, Biden could extend the deadline another 90 days if he determines there’s been progress toward a sale, giving TikTok potentially up to a year before facing a ban.Since the bill is part of the foreign aid package that Biden has vocally supported, he is expected to sign it, and quickly. Biden has also been on record supporting the earlier TikTok legislation, so there is little reason to think he would oppose the latest version of it that gives TikTok a slightly longer runway and the White House additional input in the forced sale.
Since the bill is part of the foreign aid package that Biden has vocally supported, he is expected to sign it, and quickly. Biden has also been on record supporting the earlier TikTok legislation, so there is little reason to think he would oppose the latest version of it that gives TikTok a slightly longer runway and the White House additional input in the forced sale.TikTok has promised to take the US government to court if Biden signs the bill. In a memo on Saturday, a top TikTok executive wrote to employees that this would be the “beginning, not the end” of a long process to challenge what the company calls unconstitutional legislation that censors Americans’ speech rights and that would harm small businesses that depend on the app. In March, TikTok CEO Shou Chew vowed to continue fighting, “including (by) exercising our legal rights.”
First Amendment experts say a bill that has the ultimate effect of censoring TikTok users could be shot down by the courts.“Longstanding Supreme Court precedent protects Americans’ First Amendment right to access information, ideas, and media from abroad,” said Nadine Farid Johnson, policy director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. “By banning TikTok, the bill would infringe on this right, and with no real pay-off. China and other foreign adversaries could still purchase Americans’ sensitive data from data brokers on the open market.”A court challenge could lead to the measure being temporarily blocked while the litigation plays out, likely over multiple years. But if a court declines to grant a temporary injunction, TikTok could have to scramble to comply with the law.
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