TikTok: Joe Biden approves law that could ban the app in America
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Will TikTok soon be banned in the US?
US President Joe Biden has approved a law that could see TikTok banned in America.
The platform will be blocked if its owner, ByteDance, does not sell TikTok within nine months.
TikTok is one of the most popular social media apps in the world. More than a billion people use it every month for funny videos, dance crazes, songs and even news.
But the app has been at the centre of a debate for many months over the information it holds about its users and where that information is stored.
ByteDance is a Chinese company and politicians in the US are worried that the Chinese government could use the app to access the data its of users.
TikTok has said it doesn't share US users' information with the Chinese government.
The new law gives TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance nine months to sell its part ownership of the app, or TikTok will be blocked in the United States.
"Rest assured, we aren't going anywhere," said TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew.
US President Joe Biden signed in on the bill, making it into a law
The bill was passed by the US Senate, which is the part of the US government that makes laws. It won by an overwhelming majority, with 79 Senators voting for it and 18 against. It was then sent on to President Joe Biden, who signed it into law. When people in the Senate make a bill, it has to be approved by the President to become a part of the US law.
Shou Zi Chew - who is in charge of TikTok - said "We are confident and we will keep fighting for your (TikTok users) rights in the courts".
ByteDance told the Â鶹ԼÅÄ that it did not have an immediate response to the decision, but they have previously said the company would stand up to any attempt to force it to sell TikTok.
Media and journalists were very interested in what TikTok boss Shou Zi Chew had to say at a hearing last month
Last week, the social media company said the bill would "trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate seven million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the US economy, annually."
If the US is successful in forcing ByteDance to sell TikTok, any deal would still need approval from Chinese officials, but Beijing has vowed to oppose any such move.
Experts think the process could take years to settle.
- Published27 March 2023
- Published2 March 2023
