The ban on TikTok in the US has been in the process of becoming law for a while now, and while the initial bill ground to a halt in the Senate, the revised version is moving at a much faster speed and is on its way to banning TikTok for good.
Senate Passes the TikTok Ban Bill
The revised version, which was part of a package of foreign aid legislation, is on its way to the President of the United States to be signed. Once that's done, ByteDance will have no other choice but to divest or have the app banned in the US.
The "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act," saw a 79-18 vote in the Senate, and it was quick to be approved by the US House of Representatives as well. While there is one final hurdle to go through, the bill is all but passed into law.
US President Joe Biden already said that he would sign the bill, as mentioned in Enagdget, even before the first version was even passed to the Senate. That means that the Senate's rejection of the bill was TikTok's last real chance.
In the new bill, ByteDance will have up to 12 months to divest with TikTok, which was previously only six months. Several legislators were unconvinced that it was not enough time for a smooth process, but the extension swayed a couple of votes who were previously against the ban.
The TikTok parent company said that the bill was unconstitutional and that it was in violation of the First Amendment. With that said, ByteDance intends to challenge the bill legally, which could delay the ban even after the US President approves it.
It's unclear how the divestiture would work, particularly how the US business of TikTok would be separated from the rest of the global operation. Still, ByteDance and the approved buyers would have it out as the alternative is not having access to TikTok at all.
Read Also : US House Passes Revised US TikTok Ban Bill
Why It's Being Banned
With the growing tension between China and the US, both continue to be cautious about the potential national security risks dealt by the other, and TikTok is caught in the mess. US government officials believe that TikTok's US user data is being collected by the Chinese government.
On top of that, China is also being accused of spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories through the social media platform. ByteDance has denied these claims countless times, but the accusations persist and are the main grounds for the ban bill.
It didn't help that back in 2022, ByteDance employees accessed the data of two US journalists in an attempt to track down their sources. The employees involved in the unauthorized access have already been fired or resigned, according to The Guardian.
Reports say that the employees accessed data such as IP addresses to determine if they were in the same location as the employees suspected of leaking information. What's worse is that TikTok previously said that it could not monitor US users that way when the report first surfaced.
