Biden’s campaign will continue Tik Tok, even after President Biden signed a bill into law that would force its China-based parent company to sell the video-sharing social media platform or face a ban in the United States, Fox News has learned.
Biden campaign officials told Fox News on Wednesday that the Biden-Harris campaign “will remain on TikTok.”
President Biden on Wednesday morning signed a bill passed by the Senate to force TikTok’s parent company, China-based ByteDance, to sell the app or be banned in the United States, as lawmakers accuse the platform to be a risk to American citizens. security, collection of user data and dissemination of propaganda.
TIKTOK’S CHINA-BASED PARENT NEEDS TO SELL THE PLATFORM OR BE BANNED IN THE US
A prominent pro-Democratic Party political account on TikTok has taken aim at President Biden ahead of the 2024 presidential election. ((Left: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration, Right: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst))
He tiktok legislation It was part of a set of bills providing $95 billion in foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
House Republicans’ decision last week to attach the TikTok bill to the foreign aid package helped speed its passage, after an earlier version of the bill stalled in the Senate. The Senate version would have given ByteDance six months to divest its stake in the platform, which some lawmakers believed was too short a window for a complex deal potentially worth tens of billions of dollars.
The new measure gives ByteDance nine months to sell TikTok, as well as a possible three-month extension if a sale is in progress. The bill would also prohibit the company from controlling the algorithm that shows videos to users based on their interests.
The approval of the legislation occurs amidst Bipartisan fears in Congress over Chinese threats, which includes ownership of TikTok. Lawmakers and administration officials have for years expressed concern that Chinese officials could force ByteDance to provide data on American users and influence Americans by promoting certain content on the platform.
China has previously said it would oppose forcing the sale of TikTok, and has indicated that he would oppose the latest legislation. TikTok has long denied that it is a security threat and is preparing a lawsuit to block the legislation.
“The moment the bill is signed, we will go to court to file a legal challenge,” TikTok’s head of public policy for the Americas, Michael Beckerman, wrote in a memo sent to employees on Saturday.
“This is the beginning, not the end, of this long process,” Beckerman wrote.
Former President Trump disagrees with congressional efforts to ban TikTok in the US. (iStock)
The platform has had some success with court challenges in the past, but has never attempted to stop federal legislation from taking effect.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, TikTok called the law “unconstitutional.”
“This unconstitutional law is a ban on TikTok and we will challenge it in court,” TikTok said in a statement. “We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side and we will ultimately prevail.”
SENATORS HIT ‘DELAY TACTIC’ IN TIKTOK LAW DESPITE ‘NATIONAL SECURITY PROBLEM’
The company said it has “invested billions of dollars to keep U.S. data secure and our platform free from outside influence and manipulation.”
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“This ban would devastate seven million businesses and silence 170 million Americans,” the company continued. “As we continue to challenge this unconstitutional ban, we will continue to invest and innovate to ensure that TikTok remains a space where Americans from all walks of life can safely come to share their experiences, find joy, and be inspired.”
Fox News’ Mark Merideth, Landon Mion and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
