WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed legislation giving TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance about nine months to divest the short-video app’s U.S. assets or face a nationwide ban. President Joe Biden said he will sign the bill into law on Wednesday.
Here’s what will likely happen next for TikTok.
TICK-TOC CLOCK BEGINS
Once Biden signs the bill, a 270-day clock will begin for ByteDance to sell TikTok. If ByteDance appears close to being divested by the end of the nine-month period, the president could authorize an additional 90 days to finalize a deal. If the bill is signed into law this week, as expected, the 270-day period will end around the inauguration of the next president of the United States, on January 20, 2025, leaving the decision for an additional three months to Biden. , a Democrat seeking re-election, or Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
TIKTOK CHARGES
Once the bill is signed into law, TikTok is expected to file suit to stop it. TikTok’s lawyers are also expected to ask the court for a preliminary injunction.
TikTok would seek an injunction banning enforcement of the law so that the full case challenging the constitutionality of the law can move forward. It is unlikely that the legal proceedings will be completed by the end of the year.
Last year, TikTok took similar legal action to halt a ban on the app in the state of Montana, where a preliminary injunction was issued. If that scenario can guide TikTok’s efforts against the United States, the company itself and TikTok users will file separate cases to thwart the U.S. bill.
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The bill establishes the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit as the exclusive forum for any legal challenges.
How long will this all take?
If TikTok successfully obtains a preliminary injunction from the court, the foreclosure process will be halted, potentially giving TikTok more time to operate freely in the US
In August 2020, Trump, who was president at the time, tried to ban both TikTok and China-owned WeChat but was blocked by the court. In June 2021, Biden revoked a series of Trump-era executive orders that aimed to ban new downloads of WeChat and TikTok.
WILL TIKTOK change at all?
The TikTok app should not change for its 170 million US users between now and the end of the divestiture period in the first four months of 2025.
WHAT IS THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT SAYING?
China has a list of technologies that require Chinese government approval before exporting. Experts said TikTok’s recommendation algorithm would fall under the list.
