TikTok Ban in the US: Everything You Need to Know About the New Bill

After so much deliberation, the US Senate has finally passed a bill that might just put a stop to the social video platform TikTok for good this time. The bill will ban TikTok from the App Store in the US once President Joe Biden signs it.

The House of Representatives in the EU also passed a similar bill over the weekend as a way to provide foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan as well as fund the humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip.

The bill will effectively force TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the social media service to an American company or face a ban. The house had passed a similar bill back in March that forced ByteDance to divest within 180 days.

This newer bill gives the company about 270 days to divest, this decision may have been enough to convince the Senate chair of commerce, Senator Maria Cantwell, to support the bill. Senator Cantwell did not approve of the previous bill, as she was unsure that it might not pass any legal scrutiny.

TikTok has been trying to rally its users against the bill for months and its CEO as well as the Chinese government have lobbied against its passing since it was first announced.

If this bill indeed does result in TikTok getting banned, Biden’s chances of getting reelected in November 2024 will take a pretty huge hit.