Biden has signed a new bill into law on Tuesday, April 23, which would force owners of TikTok to sell the platform under threat of banning it in the United States. The legislation dictates that the U.S. government will give the owner of TikTok, Bytedance, within nine months to a year to sell the app.
If they do not, the law makes it illegal for servicing companies to offer TikTok as a platform, and it will be taken off of the Apple and Google app stores. People may still be able to use the app for a short period of time, but as they will be unable to update it, the functionality of the app will eventually be rendered obsolete.
The reason for the implementation of this legislation is the threat of Chinese influence over TikTok. Because the owners are so closely tied to China, Biden and other U.S. representatives fear that the company will use its data on Americans to disperse propaganda.
“ODNI alleges that ‘TikTok accounts run by a PRC propaganda arm reportedly targeted candidates from both political parties during the U.S. midterm election cycle in 2022,’ and that ‘China is demonstrating a higher degree of sophistication in its influence activity, including experimenting with generative AI,’” an article by Politico said.
This has made senators and other U.S. representatives concerned about the impacts of TikTok on American citizens. TikTok is expected to go to court over this case, claiming that the ban is infringing on their first amendment rights.
“The company is expected to argue that a forced sale could violate its users’ free speech rights because a new owner could change the app’s content policies and reshape what users are able to freely share on the platform,” The New York Times said.
The major problem facing ByteDance will be selling their platform. ByteDance is valued at $225 billion, according to the New York Times, and selling the app would require them to lay off their operations in the U.S. or the entire operation altogether.
Measures against TikTok have already been taken in many states. Most recently, Florida passed House Bill 3, which bans minors under the age of 16 from using TikTok without parental consent, and minors under the age of 14 from using it altogether. Now, the entire country will be subject to legislation against the platform due to this new law.
What happens next with the platform is yet to be seen, but it is clear that this will have major consequences on American citizens who use the platform as well as the platform itself.
