The Senate has passed a bill that could potentially ban TikTok if its owner, ByteDance, fails to sell the popular social media platform within a year. The bill was included in the foreign aid package and passed with a vote of 79-18 on Tuesday, following a similar overwhelming majority in the House over the weekend.
President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill into law on Wednesday, according to a statement from the White House. This decision comes after a previous standalone bill to ban TikTok or force its sale within six months was passed by the House in March but was never taken up by the Senate.
TikTok has not yet released a statement on the matter, but Michael Beckerman, the company’s head of public policy for the Americas, has indicated that they plan to challenge the move in court. The bill gives ByteDance nine months to sell TikTok, with a possible 90-day extension, effectively providing a year to complete the deal.
The U.S. government has expressed concerns about the Chinese ownership of TikTok and the potential risk to American user data. Despite TikTok’s assurances that it does not share U.S. user data with China, the government has remained wary. The platform has faced scrutiny and criticism, with some accusing it of infringing on the free speech rights of its users.
As the future of TikTok hangs in the balance, the company and its users await the outcome of this latest development in the ongoing saga of the popular social media platform.