The Senate passed a bill on Wednesday that mandates the ban of TikTok in the U.S. unless its Chinese parent company sells a significant portion of its ownership. President Biden swiftly signed the bill into law the same day.
Following the enactment of the bill, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew released a video reassuring viewers that the platform is here to stay, expressing confidence in TikTok’s ability to overcome any legal challenges. ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, reiterated on Thursday via Toutiao, a Chinese social-media platform it owns, that it has no intentions of selling TikTok.
This legislation comes after years of attempts to prohibit the immensely popular short-video app, driven by national security concerns, including efforts by former President Trump. However, legal experts question the constitutionality of the ban, arguing that the U.S. government has failed to substantiate its claims with evidence.
The new law mandates ByteDance, based in Beijing, to divest a majority stake in TikTok within nine months, with a potential extension of three months if a sale is in progress. Failure to comply would result in the app’s ban, though legal challenges could prolong the process for years.
Apart from inconveniencing TikTok’s 170 million American users, a ban could be seen as unconstitutional and a violation of free speech rights, according to Anupam Chander, a professor specializing in global regulation of new technologies at Georgetown University. Chander argues that the U.S. government has not justified the intrusion on free expression on national security grounds, as it has failed to provide evidence supporting claims of Chinese surveillance or propaganda activities through TikTok.
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