TikTok ban signed into law by President Biden: How we got here, and what comes next – By Taylor Hatmaker (TechCrunch) / April 24, 2024
The TikTok ban has cleared Congress and received White House approval, putting new pressure on Bytedance to divest.
TikTok faces an uncertain fate in the U.S. once again. A bill including a deadline for TikTok parent company Bytedance to divest within nine months or face a ban on app stores to distribute the app in the U.S., was signed by President Joe Biden on Wednesday as part of broader legislation including military aid for Israel and Ukraine. The White House’s approval comes swiftly after strong bipartisan approval in the House and a 79-18 Senate vote Tuesday in favor of moving the bill forward.
TikTok is based in Los Angeles and Singapore but is owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance. That relationship has raised eyebrows among U.S. officials, who warn that the app could be leveraged to further the interests of an adversary. The bill’s critics argue that the U.S. is unfairly targeting a well-loved social network when the government could be dealing with household issues that directly benefit Americans.
What happened in the Senate?
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has the power to set the chamber’s priorities and round up Democrats for a unified vote, initially said that the Senate “will review the legislation when it comes over from the House.”
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