Is TikTok banned in the US? What you should know about the sell-or-ban law that Congress recently enacted.
The leadership of TikTok spent years trying to persuade the government that the well-known social media app, which is used by up to 170 million Americans, posed no threat to national security.
Tuesday night, it lost that battle when the sell-or-ban TikTok measure was unanimously supported by senators from both parties in the Senate.
The law, which is concealed within a $95 billion foreign aid package, gives Chinese parent company ByteDance up to a year to sell TikTok's American operations or risk being banned. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden promised to sign it.
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives stated, "The long-threatening TikTok ban is now here with the clock commencing once Biden signs the bill into law."
TikTok still has plenty of time left in it. TikTok and its supporters will probably file legal challenges against the legislation.
Remarks from TikTok could not be obtained right away. The firm released a statement on Saturday, accusing Congress of ramming through a bill that violates the right to free expression, hurts American companies, and threatens to close a platform that generates billions of dollars in revenue for the US economy.
Senate approves sell-or-ban legislation. Will TikTok be prohibited?
A bill to compel ByteDance to comply was approved by the House in an overwhelming majority vote in March. After that, the bill was sent to the Senate, where its future remained unclear.
It moved closer to becoming law last week when House Speaker Mike Johnson linked it to an international aid package for Israel and Ukraine. This increased the likelihood that it would be banned in the US.
By a bipartisan vote of 360 to 58 on Saturday, the House approved the emergency spending bill. The bill was approved by the Senate on Tuesday, 79–18, and it will now be sent to Biden's desk.
TikTok has stated that before discussing a sale, it will pursue all legal options. It has effectively retaliated against such actions.
Congress wants to outlaw TikTok, but why?
Calls from irate app users criticizing the TikTok legislation inundated politicians. However, lawmakers argue that there is too much risk of a foreign foe controlling the program.
"It is understandable that a lot of Americans, especially young Americans, are doubtful. Ultimately, they have not witnessed what Congress has witnessed. "They have not been included in the classified briefings that Congress has held, which have gone into further detail about some of the risks posed by foreign ownership of TikTok," Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) stated on Tuesday on the Senate floor.
TikTok claims that it has never been asked to give the Chinese government user data from Americans and that it would not if it were.
Tensions with China have increased as a result of the bill. Apple pulled a number of apps, including Threads and Meta's WhatsApp, from the Chinese app store last week at Beijing's request, seemingly in punishment for the new laws.
Sen.s contest that the TikTok bill is a "ban bill."
Legislators who backed the proposal refuted claims that it was a "ban bill." Legislators hope Tiktok "will continue under new ownership," according to Warner.
He stated, "We have been hearing from constituents about how much they appreciate TikTok as a creative platform for a number of months." "I would like to stress to those Americans that this is not a prohibition on a service you value."
Because of the difficulties in making a transaction, TikTok has stated that it views any legislation that would compel a sale as the same as a ban.
Beijing has the authority to prohibit or restrict sales that make use of the potent TikTok algorithm, which suggests videos to users.
When would TikTok have to be sold by ByteDance?
ByteDance has nine months, plus an additional three months, to sell TikTok under the terms of the bill, which is significantly longer than the six months the House measure originally suggested.
"We believe that a year is sufficient time for possible investors to come forward so that due diligence can be finished and attorneys can draft and complete contracts," Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chair Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., stated on the Senate floor on Tuesday.
Who would be willing to purchase TikTok?
According to Ives, "a number of financial and IT strategic players will be interested in TikTok despite the eye-popping price tag because to its strategic importance and consumer platform."
Ives reports that bids will be taken under consideration by investor organizations and big IT companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Oracle. In addition, he anticipates a few Big Tech companies submitting joint bids.
Both "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary and former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have indicated interest in purchasing TikTok.
According to Ives, there are two more possible outcomes: a spin-off or an IPO.
How would a ban on TikTok operate?
Should the bill become law, web hosting firms would not be able to distribute TikTok, nor would app shops like Apple and Google be allowed to distribute or update it.
Fans of TikTok will not necessarily quit using the app if it is banned. Following an incident at the Chinese border in 2020, TikTok was banned by India; nonetheless, users managed to find ways past the ban.
Using a VPN or altering your phone's location to trick app shops are two of these tactics. An additional choice is "side-loading," which involves obtaining and installing a counterfeit version of the TikTok software from the internet. However, there is a chance that viruses will be downloaded.
Regarding a ban on TikTok, where do Biden and Trump stand?
During Semafor's World Economy Summit last week, Biden's top science advisor stated that while he has not called for the app to be banned, he supports TikTok being forced to sell.
The White House Director of Science and Technology Policy, Arati Prabhakar, stated, "The big issue for TikTok from a national security perspective is about the vast amount of information that the platform is able to collect about people and specifically the fact that because of its ownership there is a direct line to the People's Republic of China, which in the geopolitics of today is a deeply concerning issue."
The following was posted on Truth Social on Monday by former president Donald Trump, who attempted to outlaw TikTok in 2020: "Just so everyone knows, especially the young people, Crooked Joe Biden is responsible for banning TikTok."
Given that Trump has now reversed his position on TikTok, ByteDance may decide to wait until November to find out which party is in power.
Anybody against the TikTok bill? supporters of free speech
Proponents of free speech have expressed their opposition to the potential for a TikTok ban. They contend that prohibiting TikTok is an ineffective strategy for resolving issues with social media firms' business practices.
"The First Amendment freedom of Americans to access foreign ideas, media, and information is safeguarded by long-standing Supreme Court precedent. The law would violate this right by outlawing TikTok, and it would have no practical benefit, according to a statement by Nadine Farid Johnson, policy director of Columbia University's Knight First Amendment Institute. Sensitive American information might still be bought by China and other foreign enemies from data brokers on the open market. Additionally, they could continue to use sites controlled by Americans to launch misinformation operations.
The TikTok law is also opposed by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a think organization that focuses on science and technology policy.
According to a statement from the foundation, vice president Daniel Castro, "the TikTok ban is terrible policy, plain and simple." Furthermore, he declared, "China's techno-nationalist agenda will not be stopped."
A TikTok ban would be advantageous to whom?
The biggest winners from a TikTok ban would be Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
If the firm leaves the United States, "we would expect Meta to be the dominant recipient of redistributed TikTok revenue, with Google the likely No. 2 benefit," according to Wedbush Securities analyst Scott Devitt.
According to Devitt, a recent poll of TikTok users revealed that 60% of them would move to Facebook or Instagram and 19% would mostly use YouTube to replace TikTok.
According to researchers, TikTok consumers and advertising revenue may also be attracted to Snapchat and Pinterest.
Teens continue to favor YouTube above all other apps. According to Pew Research Center, nine out of ten teenagers use the app, with TikTok (63%), Instagram (59%), Snapchat (60%) and TikTok (63%). Ten years later, teens are less likely than ever to use Facebook and X (previously Twitter).
Elon Musk, the owner of X, hinted that he would revive the mobile video app Vine by conducting a poll on the social media network. Musk stated on Friday that he was against TikTok's ban.
He posted on X, "In my opinion, even though such a prohibition may benefit the X platform, TikTok should not be banned in the USA." "It would be against the freedom of speech and expression to do so. That is not what America is all about."
How do Americans feel about a ban on TikTok?
The public in America is still split.
In a March CNBC All-America Economic Survey poll, over half of participants said TikTok ought to be outlawed or acquired by a non-Chinese business.
According to the survey, 60% of Republicans and 40% of Democrats are in favor of selling or banning the well-known app.
Originally published on USA TODAY, this article Is TikTok banned in the US? What you should know about the sell-or-ban law that Congress recently enacted.
