US Signs New Law To Ban TikTok; Attempts To Force Sale Of The Company

The US Senate has passed a bill that threatens to ban popular social media platform TikTok. This begins a countdown forcing TikTok owner Bytedance to sell the company within 12 months, or face a complete ban in the United States.

Byte dance technically has nine months to find a buyer, but the new law provides President Biden the option to extend the timeline by an additional three months if there has been substantial progress in the negotiations.

Banning TikTok has been one of the main concerns of the US government since it was first put forward by former President Trump. The country is concerned that the platform is harvesting large amounts of personal data for the Chinese government.

While Bytedance refutes that it actively shares user information with the Chinese Communist Party, there is no question that Chinese authorities have unlimited access to data stored on servers within their borders.

@tiktokResponse to TikTok Ban Bill♬ original sound – TikTok

TikTok CEO Shou Chew posted a video to the company’s official account expressing his disappointment at the passing of the bill. He stated that the company would be challenging the legislation in the courts; calling it unconstitutional. Chew also said that a ban on TikTok represents a ban on American free speech.