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The Senate just passed a TikTok “ban” as part of a larger foreign aid bill.
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Once Biden signs it into law, ByteDance has 270 days to sell TikTok.
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Trump tried to impose a similar ban through an executive order, but it was rejected by the court.
The Senate passed a multi-faceted bill on Tuesday evening that would effectively ban TikTok from the US app store once President Joe Biden signs it, as he has indicated he will do. The final vote was 79 in favor and 18 against.
The House of Representatives passed a series of bills this weekend to direct foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and humanitarian funding for the Gaza Strip. Hidden in the foreign aid bills was text that forced TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the social media service to an American company or face a ban.
The House of Representatives passed a similar bill in March, pressuring ByteDance to divest within 180 days. The newer version gives ByteDance 270 days to divest, a decision that appears to have been enough to influence Senate Commerce Committee chair Senator Maria Cantwell.
Cantwell did not support the previous TikTok bill and said she was not confident it could withstand legal scrutiny. This is an issue that other senators have pointed out, as the legislation specifically identifies ByteDance by name.
Biden has said for months that he will pass the legislation as soon as it reaches his desk. In his final year in office, former President Donald Trump tried to force ByteDance to sell to a U.S. company through an executive order, but a federal court overturned the order.
The bill’s passage in the Senate comes after months of lobbying against it by TikTok — the app urged its users to contact their representatives and express their displeasure, and its CEO personally traveled to Washington, D.C., to try to pass it to stop – also as reportedly China itself. Politico reported earlier in April that Chinese embassy officials had met with congressional staffers to express their displeasure with the legislation.
TikTok has vowed to challenge the bill in court once Biden signs it.
Implementing the TikTok “ban” could hurt Biden’s chances for re-election in November, given the app’s popularity among younger demographics and the likelihood of a close final vote. Trump may have noticed that too: earlier this year he spoke out against banning TikTok, despite his actions during his presidency.
Read the original article on Business Insider
