TikTok’s future is looking increasingly uncertain as support grows for a new bill that would force the company to sell itself or face a ban in the United States. Now, President Joe Biden has come out in support of the measure, one day afterreported by
CBS News. The bill, called the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” which was introduced earlier this week, would give TikTok a six-month window to divest itself from parent company ByteDance or face an app store-level ban in the US. Meanwhile, Republicans in the House of Representatives could bring the bill to a floor vote as early as Wednesday,TikTok has said the bill is a thinly-veiled effort to force a “total ban” of its app.
The company has also encouraged its millions of users to oppose the measure. On Thursday, ahead of the committee vote on the bill, the app sent push notifications prompting users to call their representatives and ask them to oppose the legislation. The notifications reportedly led toNotably, the bill has another prominent opponent: former President Donald Trump.
Though clearing the House would be significant milestone for the bill, it’s unclear where the Senate stands on it. Aspoints out, some prominent senators have been a bit more cautious in their comments about whether they would support the legislation. At a recent Senate hearing about child safety, several senators
TikTok CEO Shou Chew on his own citizenship as well as the app’s ties to China and the practices of its parent company ByteDance.