Table of Contents
CEO’s Reassurance and Legal Strategy
TikTok’s CEO stated on Wednesday that the social media business expects to win a court fight to legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden that would ban the popular short video app, which is used by 170 million Americans.
“Rest assured – we aren’t going anywhere,” CEO Shou Zi Chew said in a video posted shortly after Biden signed the law, which allows China-based ByteDance 270 days to divest TikTok’s US assets or face a ban. “The facts and the Constitution are on our side and we expect to prevail again.”
Biden’s signing establishes a Jan. 19 deadline for a sale, one day before his tenure expires, although he may extend the date by three months if he believes ByteDance is making progress. Biden is running for a second term against former President Donald Trump.
“We don’t want to see a ban,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre stated on Tuesday. “This is about PRC ownership,” she explained, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
Political Dynamics
In 2020, the courts ruled against Trump’s attempt to ban TikTok and Chinese-owned WeChat, a unit of Tencent (0700.HK), in the United States. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has switched tactics and stated on Monday that Biden was “pushing” for a ban on TikTok and would be held accountable if one were implemented, urging voters to pay attention.
“Make no mistake – this is a ban on TikTok,” Chew said, underlining that TikTok will continue to operate as the firm challenged the restrictions.
Many experts wonder if any potential buyer has the financial capacity to acquire TikTok, and if Chinese and US government authorities would authorize a deal.
Driven by broad concerns among US senators that China could use the app to access Americans’ data or spy on them, the bill was overwhelmingly passed by the Senate late Tuesday. The United States House of Representatives passed it on Saturday.
The four-year battle for TikTok is a crucial battleground in Washington and Beijing’s conflict for the internet and technology. Last week, Apple (AAPL.O) announced that China had forced it to remove Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab WhatsApp, and Threads from its App Store in China due to national security concerns.
TikTok intends to contest the bill on First Amendment grounds, and TikTok users are anticipated to file another lawsuit. In November, a Montana judge ruled against a state ban on TikTok, citing free expression concerns.
The American Civil Liberties Union stated that prohibiting or mandating TikTok’s divestiture would “set an alarming global precedent for excessive government control over social media platforms.”
However, experts believe that the new legislation will offer the Biden administration a stronger legal foundation to ban TikTok if ByteDance fails to divest the app.
If ByteDance failed to divest TikTok, app stores operated by Apple and Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens a new tab.
Impact on Business Operations and User Base
Google and others could not lawfully supply TikTok or Web hosting services to ByteDance-controlled applications or the TikTok website.
Senator Laphonza Butler, a Democrat from California, encouraged the White House to examine the destiny of TikTok’s 8,000 employees in the United States, many of whom live in New York and California.
Butler wrote to Biden: “We must acknowledge the impact on TikTok workers and our local economies as we determine a path forward.”
The bill would also give the White House new authority to prohibit or force the sale of other foreign-owned apps that it considers to be security concerns.
Democratic Senator Ron Wyden expressed concern that the bill “provides broad authority that could be abused by a future administration to violate Americans’ First Amendment rights.”.
Biden’s re-election campaign intends to continue utilizing TikTok, a campaign spokesman said on Wednesday. The Trump campaign has not joined TikTok.
Biden signed legislation in late 2022 that prohibits US government employees from using TikTok on government phones.
Stay updated on all of the latest news by subscribing to the ITP Live newsletter below and by clicking the push notifications.