Chinese business ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, has almost a year to sell the company or risk being banned because US senators claim it is a security risk.Tiktok banned
Fearing that TikTok poses a threat to national security, the US Senate overwhelmingly backed a bill that would prohibit the video-sharing app unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, divests from it within nine months.
TikTok has declared the bill, which was approved by a vote of 79–18, to be unconstitutional and denied that the Chinese government could access user data. The bill was tacked on to a proposal to give Taiwan, Israel, and Ukraine a $95 billion emergency aid package.
It will be signed into law on Wednesday, according to President Joe Biden.
What is the current status of the TikTok ban, and what are the next steps?
Why is TikTok banned? How does that affect TikTok?
In 2017, ByteDance acquired Musical.ly, a well-known karaoke app, and rebranded it as TikTok. With 150 million monthly users, it is among the US apps with the greatest growth rates. The network claimed to have over one billion active monthly users worldwide in 2023, bringing in $120 billion in revenue, of which $16 billion originated in the US.
Due to TikTok’s increasing popularity, US politicians and spy agencies have raised concern that the app may share user data with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). TikTok has refuted these claims. Some claim that China might also exploit the data to disseminate false information that would undermine the democratic process.
We’ve let the Chinese Communist Party rule over one of the most widely used apps in the US for years. The top Republican on the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Marco Rubio, stated that the action was extremely shortsighted. The proprietor of the app in China will have to sell it according to a new rule. This is a wise decision for the US.
The US Congress outlawed using the app on any network or device that is provided by the federal government in December 2022. TikTok use in government offices has been restricted in a number of other nations that have followed suit. Following border skirmishes in 2020, when the app had 200 million users, India banned it.
The widely used software has also been accused of promoting content that supports Palestine, a charge that the developer has refuted. According to a November statement from the firm, sixty percent of TikTok’s users in the US are young people (ages 16 to 24) who have sympathy for Palestine.
Executives from TikTok have faced intense questioning from lawmakers on several occasions. Shou Zi Chew, the company’s CEO, gave lawmakers assurances in March of last year that TikTok had taken precautions to protect user data.
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Additionally, the company has invested $1.5 billion to store TikTok in the US. Oracle, a multinational company with headquarters in the US, will handle cloud and storage services for the project. Additionally, steps have been taken to keep its US activities independent of its Chinese parent business.
According to China’s Foreign Ministry, the US accusations lacked evidence, and the ban would stifle free and fair competition. Amid a digital and internet battle between Washington and Beijing, the US has placed many Chinese tech companies on a blacklist.
Now, what can TikTok do?
TikTok’s attorneys and executives will have to battle it out in court for the time being even though the company is allowed to operate in the US.
“We will fight this unconstitutional law—a TikTok ban—in court. We think we will win in the end because the law and the facts plainly support our position. In actuality, TikTok stated in a statement on Wednesday, “We have spent billions of dollars to protect US data and ensure that outside influence and manipulation cannot affect our platform.”
TikTok intends to contest the bill on First Amendment grounds, and users using the platform anticipate filing lawsuits once more. In November, a US judge in Montana overruled a state ban on TikTok, invoking the right to free speech. The First Amendment of the US Constitution protects the right to free speech.
A prohibition on or need for TikTok’s divestiture, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, would “set an alarming global precedent for excessive government control over social media platforms.” If the United States prohibits a foreign-owned platform today, other nations will be tempted to follow suit.
The law “provides broad authority that could be abused by a future administration to violate Americans’ First Amendment rights,” expressed Democratic Senator Ron Wyden’s concerns.
While running for reelection in 2020, former US President Donald Trump attempted to enact his own TikTok ban. However, he has since reversed course on the popular social media app. “Just so everyone knows, especially the young people, Crooked Joe Biden is responsible for banning TikTok,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform on Monday.
