This decision follows the bill's approval in the Senate, bundled with funding measures for Ukraine.
The legislation provides ByteDance a nine-month deadline to divest or sell TikTok, with a potential extension of three months if active negotiations are underway. This move is part of broader concerns about data privacy and national security, particularly fears that the Chinese-owned company could potentially share American users' data with the Chinese government.
ByteDance has vehemently denied such possibilities and has announced plans to challenge what it calls "this unconstitutional law" in court. The company claims that the forced sale or ban of TikTok could adversely impact 7 million businesses and silence 170 million American users.
President Biden, in a statement released following the signing, emphasized the challenging journey the legislation faced before reaching his desk, stating, "In the end, we did what America always does, we rose to the moment."
Meanwhile, ByteDance's CEO Shou Zi Chew expressed his disappointment over social media, calling the move "ironic" as it contradicts the very American values of freedom of expression that TikTok promotes.
This new law revives and intensifies debates from the Trump administration, which had previously initiated efforts to force ByteDance to divest its interest in TikTok. Despite opposition, including from former President Trump himself who is now arguing against the ban, the Biden administration has pushed forward with these stringent measures.
The situation remains fluid as ByteDance prepares for a legal battle, claiming the law infringes on constitutional rights, setting the stage for a significant legal and political showdown over the future of TikTok in the U.S.
