The US Senate approves a measure compelling TikTok to sell and sends it to Biden
The well-known video-sharing software TikTok would be prohibited from operating until it separated from its Chinese parent business, according to legislation that was adopted by the US Senate.
President Joe Biden, who has supported the provisions, may now sign the bill into law after it was approved on Tuesday. However, it is anticipated that the legislation will face legal challenges.
The plan, which gives the Chinese firm ByteDance nine months to sell the platform, was part of a $95 billion deal meant to help Israel and Ukraine with foreign assistance.
Republicans in the House of Representatives this week added the TikTok bill to the foreign assistance proposals in an attempt to speed up the package’s passage through Congress. The Senate voted 79–18 to approve the package.
In a bipartisan vote of 360–58 on Saturday, the House approved the measure.
Republicans and Democrats have both asserted that TikTok poses a danger to national security, claiming Beijing may use the app to sway public opinion and spy on Americans.
TikTok has maintained that it has not and will never provide the Chinese authorities access to user data from American users.
The contentious program that permits the monitoring of US individuals’ communications without a court order was reauthorized by the US Congress a few days before the vote.
The measure to compel TikTok’s sales “would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans,” the company warned in a statement on Sunday.
It is anticipated that TikTok will request a preliminary injunction to stop the law’s implementation while a constitutional challenge is being considered.
