US passes bill to force TikTok sale

Photo credit: ByteDance

The US Congress has passed a bill mandating TikTok‘s parent company, ByteDance, to sell its US operations in a year or face a complete ban. The Senate, the Congress’ upper house, approved the bill with 79 votes for and 18 against, according to a South China Morning Post report.

On TikTok’s official account, CEO Shou Zi Chew responded to the news with a video, saying that TikTok isn’t “going anywhere. We are confident and we will keep fighting for your rights in the courts.”

The bill was bundled with a foreign aid package amounting to US$95.3 billion, intended for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan – a move that helped the bill garner bipartisan support. It was also passed despite ByteDance and TikTok collectively shelling out US$7 million on lobbying and ad campaigns.

President Joe Biden intends to sign the bill into law, though former president Donald Trump said that would give Facebook an unfair advantage. Elon Musk, who owns social media platform X, said that TikTok’s ban “would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression.”

Nevertheless, John Thune, a senator supporting the bill, voiced his concern over China’s alleged use of TikTok to get data from the US. Senator Maria Cantwell accused China of creating a “back door” access to Americans.

China’s US embassy objected to the bill, claiming that it stifles fair competition and global trade.

This vote is the US government’s first attempt to shut down a social media company. It also comes amid heightened tensions between the US and China in various spheres, including tech.

The House of Representatives, the US Congress’ lower house, had initially passed the bill last month. However, ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming had previously said that the company had no intentions of selling TikTok in the US, where it has over 175 million users.

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