WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 24: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the North American Building Trades Unions (NABTU) 2024 Legislative Conference at the Washington Hilton on April 24, 2024 in Washington, DC. Biden attended the conference to receive an official political endorsement from NABTU. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
OAN’s Abril Elfi
11:22 AM – Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Biden has now signed legislation that could ban TikTok if it is not sold to a U.S.-based company in the next year.
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The Senate approved a legislative package on Tuesday that includes the possibility of outlawing TikTok in addition to a $95.3 billion aid package for Taiwan, Israel, and the Ukraine.
President Joe Biden signed the bill into law on Wednesday.
The bill gives TikTok 270 days to find a new owner, up from the roughly six months proposed under prior versions of the legislation.
The bill also gives the White House an option to extend that deadline another 90 days if Biden determines that there is progress towards a potential sale.
Politicians had expressed security concerns over the TikTok app due to its owner, ByteDance, being obligated to share its data with the Chinese government.
However, former President Donald Trump has stated that a ban of the app could empower Meta (Facebook), which he referred to as “an enemy of the people.”
TikTok’s management team is reportedly planning a legal challenge to the bill, as they are afraid the legislation may lead to a forced sale rather than an outright ban.
Legal challenges could also come about from TikTok’s users and the app’s popular creators.
TikTok said in a statement that is “unfortunate” that lawmakers are “using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian n assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the U.S. economy, annually.”
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