The video-sharing app TikTok has had problems operating in the US before. Fears of espionage by China nearly banned it a few years ago. All this time, relations between the United States and TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, have not been the best, and the situation is only getting more tense. On Tuesday, the Senate voted on a bill that would require ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban on the app in the US. With a significant majority of votes – 79 “for” and 18 “against” – the Senate has supported the possible ban of “TikTok” in the United States. Joe Biden still had to speak for the bill to be officially passed.
After the vote in the Senate, the bill “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” was sent to President Joe Biden, who had previously expressed his support for banning “TikTok” in the United States. He also confirmed this on Wednesday, signing the bill and thus putting “ByteDance” in front of a choice – to sell “TikTok” or this app will be banned in the United States.
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The updated rules give ByteDance up to 12 months to make a decision. The company has called this bill unconstitutional and indicated that it will file a lawsuit against it. Such a move could significantly delay the possible sale or ban of TikTok.
It should be noted that “TikTok” has been the focus of attention of US lawmakers and intelligence services for a long time. The app is said to pose a national security threat, with China spying on US users and trying to obtain their personal data.
