Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) plans to introduce a bill that would extend TikTok's ban by 270 days. TikTok has warned of an impending shutdown in just five days, but the new bill, officially called the TikTok Deadline Extension Act, would force TikTok to leave its Chinese parent company ByteDance if approved by Congress. will give you more time.
TikTok is currently expected to be “deactivated” on January 19th unless the Supreme Court intervenes to delay the ban. The Supreme Court is considering the ban and is expected to decide later this week whether the law behind the ban violates the First Amendment.
“TikTok creators and users across the country are understandably wary as the January 19 deadline approaches,” Markey said in a speech on the Senate floor Monday. “They're worried about the future of the platform, their accounts, and the vibrant online communities they've fostered. “These communities can't be replicated in another app. It would dismantle its own information-cultural ecosystem and silence millions of people in the process.”
Markey said TikTok is problematic and poses a “serious risk” to the privacy and mental health of young people, and that the ban would “reach out to millions of Americans who rely on the app for social connections and economic livelihoods.” It will have a serious impact on people.”
Markey and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), along with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), recently joined a bipartisan court asking the Supreme Court to reverse the D.C. Circuit's decision that upheld the TikTok ban. A preliminary document was submitted. The trio argued that banning TikTok violates the First Amendment.