US passes ‘ban or sell’ TikTok bill

The Senate on Tuesday voted to pass the bill that will either ban TikTok or force China’s ByteDance to sell the short-form video app.

As many as 79 senators voted in favor and 18 against the bill. The bill already passed in the House on Saturday by a margin of 360 to 58.

It will now be sent to Joe Biden, who has previously said he would sign the legislation.

Once signed by the president, ByteDance would have up to a year to complete a sale of TikTok or face an effective ban for the platform in the US.

After the bill, the Chinese company will have nine months to sell the app, while the duration can be extended up to three months on president discretion should there be progress toward a deal.

Still, legal challenges could possibly delay enforcement.

The Senate vote came together due to clever political maneuvering in the House, which has now twice voted to pass the TikTok legislation.

Lawmakers and intelligence officials are concerned that TikTok’s ownership by a China-based company could endanger the data of its US users.

However, TikTok itself is based in Singapore, and the company says it doesn’t store US information in China.

“Congress is not acting to punish ByteDance, TikTok or any other individual company,” Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA) said on the Senate floor ahead of the vote. “Congress is acting to prevent foreign adversaries from conducting espionage, surveillance, maligned operations, harming vulnerable Americans, our servicemen and women, and our U.S. government personnel.”