President Joe Biden signed the TikTok bill into law on Wednesday morning, officially starting the 270-day clock for TikTok’s owner, China-based Bytedance, to sell the social media app or face a ban in American app stores.
“It’s a good day for America, it’s a good day for Europe, and it’s a good day for world peace,” said Biden in a speech on Wednesday, shortly after signing a package of national security bills that included the TikTok bill.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew immediately responded by saying “We’re not going anywhere,” in a video posted on his platform. TikTok has previously indicated it would fight the US government in court when this bill becomes law. The social media company views the law Biden signed as an outright ban that would “trample” the free speech of its 170 million American users.
“Make no mistake, this is a ban, a ban on TikTok and a ban on you and your voice,” Chew said in the video. “Politicians may say otherwise. But don’t get confused.”
Despite
the
years-long
effort
by
United
States
politicians
to
ban
TikTok,
out
of
fear
China’s
government
uses
the
app
to
spy
on
Americans,
Biden
did
not
mention
TikTok,
Bytedance,
or
even
China
in
his
speech
Wednesday
morning.
Biden
reserved
his
words
for
condemning
Vladimir
Putin,
signaling
support
for
Israel,
and
speaking
generally
about
America’s
ability
to
“stand
up
against
dictators.”
Biden’s
campaign
plans
to
continue
using
TikTok
throughout
the
election
to
reach
younger
voters,
according
to
NBC
News.
The
President’s
campaign
launched
an
official
TikTok
account
in
February
of
this
year.
The
@bidenhq
account
has
over
300,000
followers
on
TikTok,
and
its
videos
have
received
roughly
3.8
million
likes.
In
an
interesting
coincidence,
the
270-day
countdown
for
TikTok
ends
the
day
before
the
next
presidential
inauguration,
but
legal
challenges
will
almost
certainly
impact
the
final
date.
This week, the TikTok bill flew through Congress inside a destined-to-pass $90 billion foreign aid package to Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel that also includes some humanitarian aid to Palestinians. The TikTok bill’s inclusion into this foreign aid package may have been a contributing factor to its swift passage into law.
China has banned American apps such as Google, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter for over a decade. In just the last week, Apple was ordered to remove WhatsApp and Threads from Chinese user devices. While TikTok is not the first app that America has forced to divest from China (Grindr in 2020), the TikTok bill is the first American law to do so. Biden set a new precedent around the freedom of American app stores on Wednesday, but he didn’t even talk about it.
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