In the US, President Biden signed the bill into law forcing ByteDance to sell the TikTok app to an American party within 9-12 months, or its distribution via the US app stores will be banned.
The bill received widespread support due to national security concerns related to TikTok and was approved in the House of Representatives, in the Senate, and further signed into law by President Biden.
ByteDance, which owns TikTok, has nine months to find the best solution to the deal. The President, according to the law, can extend the timeframe for another three months if he sees progress toward legal requirement compliance.
TikTok is actively pitting its users against the bill, urging them to contact politicians and express their support for the app.
@tiktok Response to TikTok Ban Bill
Moreover, TikTok intends to challenge the “unconstitutional law” in court:
«We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and we will ultimately prevail.” “The fact is that we have invested billions of dollars to secure US data and protect our platform from outside influence and manipulation. This ban will disrupt 7 million businesses and silence 170 million Americans. As we continue to challenge this unconstitutional ban, we will continue to invest and bring innovations to ensure that TikTok remains a space where Americans with different backgrounds can safely share their experience, find joy, and get inspiration.».
TikTok has previously been blocked in other countries, such as India. Google and Meta were quick to use this opportunity to attract local creators and TikTok users to their products – YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels. Other countries have taken similar steps, including Senegal, Nepal, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iran and others. There is also talk of blocking TikTok in Kazakhstan.
For more information on blocking TikTok in the US: https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/24/biden-signs-bill-that-would-ban-tiktok-if-bytedance-fails-to-sell-the-app.
