Washington, D.C. – After years of failed attempts, Congress successfully passed legislation on Tuesday to ban or require the sale of TikTok, marking a significant move against the popular video-sharing platform’s Chinese ownership. The bipartisan measure received overwhelming support in the Senate, with a vote of 79 to 18, as part of a broader package providing aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. The bill now awaits President Biden’s signature, who has already indicated his intention to sign it into law on Wednesday.
If enacted, the legislation would compel TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app within nine months or face a national ban, with the possibility of a 90-day extension granted by the president. The lawmakers behind the measure have expressed concerns over the platform’s ties to China, fearing that the Chinese government could access Americans’ data through TikTok’s ownership structure, a claim that the company denies.
In response to the impending legislation, TikTok is expected to challenge the measure, setting the stage for a high-stakes legal battle that will test the company’s argument that any ban would impede the free speech rights of its millions of users. Despite the platform’s efforts to dissuade lawmakers through various means, including encouraging users to engage with their representatives, the legislation has gained traction thanks to broad bipartisan support.
The push to regulate TikTok intensified following scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers over concerns about the safety of American user data in the hands of a Chinese-owned company. TikTok had proposed a plan called Project Texas to address these concerns by storing U.S. data with American tech giant Oracle. However, as negotiations between TikTok and the government stalled, lawmakers turned to legislation granting the executive branch the authority to restrict the platform.
Lawmakers in the House quickly advanced the bill earlier last month, with the support of various committees and key legislators. By pairing the TikTok legislation with a proposal to prevent foreign adversaries from purchasing Americans’ personal information from data brokers, lawmakers were able to secure widespread support for the bill. This strategic move enabled the swift passage of the legislation through committee and the floor.
Despite some opposition from liberal Democrats and libertarian Republicans over concerns of government overreach and potential speech censorship, the legislation successfully made its way through Congress by attaching it to a foreign aid package with broad bipartisan backing. The move avoided a protracted and contentious debate in the Senate, illustrating the effectiveness of linking the bill to a cause with significant bipartisan support.
As the bill awaits the president’s signature, the future of TikTok in the U.S. remains uncertain. The passage of this legislation marks a crucial turning point in the ongoing debate over national security and data privacy concerns associated with foreign-owned technology platforms operating in the country.