US Senate Approves TikTok Ban Legislation, Raising Cybersecurity Concerns
The US Senate has overwhelmingly passed legislation that would result in a ban of TikTok in the United States, should its Chinese parent company ByteDance not divest from the widely used short video app within the next nine to twelve months.
This legislation was included in a larger $95 billion foreign aid package that provides military support to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, which has now been approved by Congress and is on its way to President Joe Biden for his signature.
The legislation is driven by significant concerns among US lawmakers over potential Chinese access to American data or surveillance via TikTok, which boasts 170 million users in the United States alone.
President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill into law shortly, setting the stage for a significant shift in how foreign-owned apps operate in the US.
This legislative move underscores the escalating tensions between the US and China in the domains of technology and cybersecurity. The bill not only targets TikTok but also provides the White House with new tools to potentially ban other foreign-owned apps deemed security threats.
The decision could reshape the social media landscape in the US, impacting millions of users and content creators.
The bill’s passage comes amid a broader push by Western nations to limit the influence of Chinese technology companies due to fears of espionage and data theft. Countries like India have already taken similar steps by banning TikTok and other Chinese apps, citing national security risks.
This move by the US may encourage other countries to reconsider the presence of foreign-owned tech platforms within their borders.
TikTok, which says it has not shared and would not share US user data with the Chinese government, has told employees it would quickly go to court to try to block the legislation.
“This is the beginning, not the end of this long process,” TikTok told staff in a mail.
Democratic Senator Ron Wyden expressed concerns that the bill “provides broad authority that could be abused by a future administration to violate Americans’ First Amendment rights.”
On the other hand, Senator Marco Rubio highlighted the necessity of the legislation, saying, “For years we’ve allowed the Chinese Communist party to control one of the most popular apps in America that was dangerously shortsighted.”
The app is already banned in India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Afghanistan, and is restricted in many European countries. If ByteDance fails to divest TikTok, app stores operated by Apple, Google, and others would be prohibited from offering the app or providing web hosting services to ByteDance-controlled applications or TikTok’s website.
The bill also grants the White House new authority to ban or force the sale of other foreign-owned apps deemed to be security threats.
Once signed into law, ByteDance will have 270 days to divest TikTok’s US operations, with a possible three-month extension if progress is being made on a deal. However, some senators have expressed concerns about the feasibility of ByteDance divesting by early 2025, given the complexity and potential cost of such a transaction.
The TikTok ban could also become an issue in the November presidential campaign, with Republican candidate Donald Trump urging young voters to consider the potential consequences of the ban.
