The Senate passed a bill included in a foreign aid package that would ban TikTok if owner ByteDance doesn't sell it within a year. The Senate passed the bill 79-18 on Tuesday after the House passed it overwhelmingly over the weekend.
President Joe Biden must sign the bill into law and is expected to do so on Wednesday, according to a statement released by the White House.
Notably, the House of Representatives passed a similar standalone bill in March that would ban TikTok or force a sale within a six-month period. However, the Senate never took up the bill. This time, the Senate had to make a decision because the bill was tied to important foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
TikTok did not immediately issue a statement. However, Michael Beckerman, the company's head of public policy for the Americas, said the company intends to challenge the move in court, according to Bloomberg.
“This is an unprecedented agreement between the Republican Chairman and President Biden. Once the bill is signed, we will go to court for a legal challenge,” he said on TikTok earlier this week. in a memo to U.S. staff.
The bill gives ByteDance nine months with a 90-day extension to force a sale, effectively giving the deal a year to complete.
When the House of Representatives passed the bill last week, TikTok announced that it would use critical foreign and humanitarian aid to help the House pass a ban that would limit “the free speech rights of 170 million Americans.” He said it was “unfortunate” that he was hiding it.
The House of Representatives is using the cover of critical foreign and humanitarian aid to once again block a ban that would trample on the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, destroy 7 million businesses, and shut down platforms. It's a shame that there are…
— TikTok Policy (@TikTokPolicy) April 18, 2024
Although TikTok operates in Singapore, the United States has been concerned about its citizens' data, given that the social media platform is owned by China. Through various campaigns, TikTok has continually sought to assure the government that it will not provide U.S. user data to China.