US Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban
In a contentious move that could face legal hurdles, the U.S. Senate approved a bill on Tuesday that would compel ByteDance, TikTok's China-based parent company, to divest the popular short-form video app or risk facing a nationwide ban.
This legislative action, driven by concerns over potential national security risks, underscores the escalating tensions between American lawmakers and the Beijing-based tech giant that oversees one of the most widely used social media platforms among younger demographics. While proponents argue the measure is crucial for safeguarding user data and mitigating Chinese government influence, critics warn of potential First Amendment violations and adverse impacts on the creator economy that has flourished on TikTok.
It now goes to President Joe Biden, who said in a statement immediately after passage that he will sign it Wednesday.
From the Associated Press:
Quote:
A decision made by House Republicans last week to attach the TikTok bill to the high-priority package helped expedite its passage in Congress and came after negotiations with the Senate, where an earlier version of the bill had stalled. That version had given TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, six months to divest its stakes in the platform. But it drew skepticism from some key lawmakers concerned it was too short of a window for a complex deal that could be worth tens of billions of dollars.
The revised legislation extends the deadline, giving ByteDance nine months to sell TikTok, and a possible three-month extension if a sale is in progress. The bill would also bar the company from controlling TikTok’s secret sauce: the algorithm that feeds users videos based on their interests and has made the platform a trendsetting phenomenon.
Read more here: https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ba...6eb21e61ebcb8d
