The U.S. Senate passed the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” on Tuesday evening, which gives the White House authority to ban apps it deems a national security threat. The bill, which would force TikTok to sell its U.S. operations or face a ban, was attached to a broader foreign aid package and is expected to be signed into law by President Biden.
The bill, also known as the “TikTok Ban Bill,” was introduced in response to concerns that the app, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, poses a national security risk. Senators received a classified briefing from national security officials in March, which reportedly revealed that TikTok could be used to tap the microphone on users’ devices and track their activity on other apps. However, none of this evidence has been made public.
TikTok has denied that it shares any data with the Chinese government. However, the bill gives the president a near unchecked power to designate apps as “foreign adversary-controlled applications” and force them to be sold to a U.S. owner within 270 days. If no sale occurs, the apps will be banned from app stores and blocked by internet service providers in the United States.
TikTok has vowed to fight the ban in court, arguing that it violates the First Amendment rights of its American users. The social media company claims that the ban is “a clear violation” of the First Amendment rights of its 170 million American users. A court case of this kind is unprecedented and could go up to the Supreme Court.
Despite the overwhelming support in Congress, a U.S. TikTok ban is not popular with voters. Just 38% of U.S. adults say they would support a TikTok ban, according to a recent poll. If Biden signs the TikTok bill, he’ll appear strong against China, but could potentially lose important swing voters.
TikTok has fought tooth and nail to avoid a U.S. ban under ByteDance’s ownership. The app sent push notifications to millions of American users asking them to call their local congress member. Lawmakers’ offices were flooded with phone calls later that day. TikTok and ByteDance also reportedly spent millions of dollars in lobbying efforts this year to fight the potential ban. Those attempts were unsuccessful, so now TikTok is poised to take this battle to court.
