After being voted for approval by the US House of Representatives to pass it on Saturday, followed by Tuesday's vote to pass it in the US Senate, the bill that could cause TikTok to be banned completely in the United States was signed into law today by US President Joe Biden.
The law requires TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest its interest in the social media platform within 270 days. President Biden has the option to grant a 90-day extension if his administration believes that negotiations for the sale of TikTok are nearing completion.
If the sale of TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance is not completed within the specified timeframe, either within the 270-day deadline or a possible 90-day extension, the U.S. government could decide to ban the TikTok app from U.S. app stores.
Concerns about TikTok's data privacy and security have been raised by lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties, with claims that ByteDance could potentially share personal user information with the Chinese government. However, ByteDance has consistently denied these allegations, and there is limited evidence to support them.
In response to the new legislation, TikTok has indicated that it plans to challenge the law in court, emphasizing its commitment to user safety and data protection. In a post on TikTok's official Policy X (formerly Twitter) account, the company stated:
"We have invested billions of dollars to ensure U.S. user data is secure and to prevent external interference and manipulation. Banning TikTok would severely impact seven million businesses and mute 170 million American users."
The timeline for when ByteDance might initiate legal proceedings to contest the new law has not yet been disclosed.
