President Joe Biden today signed into law a package of national security measures, including legislation that will force China-based ByteDance to sell TikTok or see the app banned in the US.
The “Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” gives ByteDance 270 days to sell the app, with a possible 90-day extension at the president’s discretion if certain progress has been made toward a sale.
The law specifically mentions ByteDance and TikTok, but it could also apply to other companies “controlled by a foreign adversary” if they meet certain criteria (like having more than 1 million monthly active users) and the president determines they are a significant threat to national security.
TikTok responded to the signing today, saying, “This unconstitutional law is a TikTok ban, and we will challenge it in court. We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and we will ultimately prevail. The fact is, we have invested billions of dollars to keep US data safe and our platform free from outside influence and manipulation.”