President Biden on Wednesday signed a law that would ban Chinese-owned TikTok unless it is sold within a year.
It is the most serious threat yet to the video-streaming app’s future in the U.S., intensifying America’s tech war with China.
Still, the law is not expected to cause any immediate disruption to TikTok, as a forthcoming legal challenge, and various hurdles to selling the app, will most likely cause months of delay.
The measure was tucked into a bill providing foreign aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. The law stipulates that ByteDance must sell its stake in TikTok in 12 months under the threat of being shut down.
The move is the culmination of Washington turning the screws on TikTok for years.
Chinese tech giant ByteDance, in 2017, purchased the popular karaoke app Musical.ly and relaunched the service as TikTok. Since then, the app has been under the microscope of national security officials in Washington fearing possible influence by the Chinese government.
Despite concerns in Washington, TikTok has soared. It has become the trendsetter in the world of short-form video and is used by 170 million Americans, which is about half of the country. It is where one-third of young people get their news, according to Pew Research Center.
Yet lawmakers and the Biden administration argue that as long as TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, it is beholden to the dictates of China’s authoritarian regime
“Congress is not acting to punish ByteDance, TikTok, or any other individual company,” said Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, in remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon.
“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.”
In a video posted to the platform soon after Biden signed the bill, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said he is confident TikTok would win in court, adding that users should not expect issues with the app in the meantime.
“Rest assured, we aren’t going anywhere,” Chew said. “The facts and the Constitution are on our side and we expect to prevail again.”
Source: NPR News
