A legal battle is about to ensue in the United States regarding the potential TikTok ban. In light of the senate passing the TikTok ban bill that sees President Biden ready to sign it into law unless the legislation is successful in forcing China's ByteDance to divest in TikTok, the country will likely see a court battle between the U.S. and TikTok.
With the bill in place, President Biden has been vocal in supporting the TikTok "divest-or-ban" measure. TikTok argues that the legislation violates the First Amendment, while American lawmakers are continuously concerned about TikTok's Chinese ownership. America suggests that due to the Chinese Communist regime, the country argues that the app is a way for China to spy on Americans and push their political agenda.The Senate's approval of the ban bill was directly linked to a $95 billion USD foreign aid package to Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel.
Following the bill being signed into law, TikTok is expected to file a legal challenge as Michael Beckerman, the app's head of public policy for the Americas stated in a company memo. He stated doubled downed on the company's perspective of the legislation which they have clearly criticized as a "clear violation" of the First Amendment. He wrote in the memo, "This is the beginning, not the end of this long process." Chair of the Senate's Commerce Science and Transportation Committee, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash) suggested that the app and ByteDance are "weaponizing" data and AI to spy on Americans. Meanwhile, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said ahead of the vote, "We hope that TikTok will continue under new ownership — American or otherwise. It could be bought by a group from Britain, Canada, Brazil, France. It just needs to no longer be controlled by an adversary that is defined as an adversary in U.S. law."
If TikTok does not compy with the "divest-or-ban law" or is unsuccessful in getting it overturned, it is likely that TikTok will be banned from the U.S.
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