– A bill to ban TikTok in the US could be signed into law as early as this week.
– Even if the bill is passed, a ban on TikTok would not go into effect until 2025 at the earliest.
– ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, would have nine months to sell the app to a US-based owner or face being removed from app stores, but a court battle may delay the process.
A bill aimed at banning TikTok in the US may be signed into law this week, but the ban wouldn’t go into effect until at least 2025 and could be delayed even further. The US House of Representatives approved the bill requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s owner, to sell its US operations to someone not affiliated with a “foreign adversary” within a year. The bill was bundled with measures for US aid to Ukraine and Israel, making it likely to pass as part of a larger package deal.
If ByteDance fails to find a buyer for US TikTok, the bill would require Google and Apple to remove the app from their stores, making it difficult for the app to gain new users in the US. The bill would also prevent US companies from assisting TikTok in maintaining or updating the service. Amidst talks of potential buyers, Steve Mnuchin, former treasury secretary, has shown interest in purchasing US TikTok, but faces challenges including the feasibility of rebuilding TikTok’s algorithm independently.
ByteDance has already expressed intention to challenge the bill in court, which could potentially delay any ban or sale for a significant amount of time, considering the timeline of previous legal battles related to TikTok bans. Ultimately, while a bill aimed at banning TikTok in the US may be signed into law soon, the actual effect of the ban on the app’s operation remains uncertain.