25th April, 2024
By Taiwo Okanlawon
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, has signed into law a bill seeking to ban popular social media application TikTok.
The bill which was earlier passed by the U.S. Congress requires TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app within nine months, or face a ban in the U.S.
The bill, called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act was first introduced on 5 March and passed with a massive 352-65 vote, and 65 against it, while one member voted present.
According to CNN, the lawmakers supportive of the bill argued that the video-sharing app poses a national security threat. The house said unless the app parts ways with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
This, they argued, is because the Chinese government could use its intelligence laws against ByteDance and force it to hand over the data of US app users.
If enacted, the bill would require ByteDance to sell the app within five months or see it barred from the Apple and Google app stores in the US.
Biden signed the bill attached to the $95 billion foreign aid package Congress approved this week that will deliver more funding to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, TikTok has vowed to take legal action against the new law.
TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek called the law “unconstitutional” in a statement and vowed to “challenge it in court.”
TikTok won a legal battle against former President Donald Trump’s attempt in 2020 to force the sale of TikTok via an executive order that would prohibit any U.S.-based transactions with ByteDance if the company did not divest the app within 45 days.