It is now almost a certain that a bill that would outlaw TikTok would pass. By a vote of 79 to 18, the Senate adopted a bill mandating that ByteDance sell TikTok or risk being banned. President Joe Biden will next see the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” which he has pledged to approve into law.
The measure garnered a lot more support than earlier attempts, even though it’s not the first attempt to compel a ban or divestment of the social networking app. After being submitted in March, the bill was overwhelmingly supported by both parties as it passed the House of Representatives. On Saturday, a slightly altered version was accepted as a part of a set of laws pertaining to foreign aid.
Under the updated terms, TikTok would have up to 12 months to divest from parent company ByteDance or face a ban in US app stores and web hosting services. The company has called the bill unconstitutional and indicated it would mount a legal challenge to such a law, which could further delay an eventual sale or ban.
The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
TikTok has long been viewed with suspicion by lawmakers and the intelligence community. Ahead of votes in the House and Senate, members of Congress were briefed by intelligence officials on the alleged national security threat posed by the app. The exact nature of those concerns is still unclear, though some members of Congress have asked for details from the briefings to be declassified.
At the same time, some lawmakers have expressed skepticism, saying that the alleged threat posed by TikTok is largely hypothetical. Free speech and digital rights groups also oppose the bill, noting that comprehensive privacy legislation would be a more effective way of protecting Americans’ personal data. TikTok CEO Shou Chew has made a similar argument, telling Congress last year that a forced sale wouldn’t resolve data concerns about the app.
But TikTok’s recent efforts to muster opposition to the bill may have backfired. Lawmakers rebuked the company for sending in-app notifications to users about the bill after the alerts resulted in a flood of calls to Congressional offices. And the app may have drawn even more suspicion when Politico reported last week that Chinese diplomats were lobbying Congressional staffers to oppose the bill. Officials in China have condemned the measure. A Chinese law, passed in 2020, could prevent ByteDance from including TikTok’s recommendation algorithm in a sale of the app.
