US President Joe Biden has just signed the bill into law that forces ByteDance to either sell off its US TikTok operations or face a ban in the country — prompting a response from TikTok’s CEO.
After the US House of Representatives passed a bill forcing TikTok’s parent company to either sell its US operations within six months or face a ban in the country back in March, the short-form video app’s future became questionable.
That bill hasn’t moved since, but Congress introduced and passed a second bill in April 2024 with a similar mandate, but that had an extended the length of time ByteDance has to sell.
President Biden signed the law on April 24, 2024, starting the nine-month clock that forces ByteDance to divest.
However, ByteDance has made it quite clear that they have no intentions of selling off its US TikTok operations. Instead, a leaked internal memo from the company revealed that they intend to file a lawsuit to fight the decision as soon as Biden signs it into law.
“At the stage that the bill is signed, we will move to the courts for a legal challenge,” the company said. “We’ll continue to fight, as this legislation is a clear violation of the first amendment rights of the 170 million Americans on TikTok.”
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This will put the nine-month divestment period on pause for however long court proceedings take place, potentially delaying the law’s effect for months or years.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew uploaded an article shortly after Biden signed the law, responding to the whole situation and making it clear yet again that they intend to fight the decision in the courts.
“Make no mistake, this is a ban. A ban on TikTok, a ban on you, and a ban on your voice,” he said.
US access to TikTok won’t immediately change at all. Users will be able to use the app as normal for at least the following nine months, and many may not even know that anything’s going on.
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