TikTok must break away from its Chinese parent company ByteDance in the US. The US Senate voted late on Tuesday (local time) in favor of an ultimatum requiring the popular short video app to sell its US assets within nine months or be banned. It is unclear whether the plan can hold up in US courts. An earlier threat to ban it failed there.
“For years, we gave the Chinese Communist Party control of one of America’s most popular apps, and that was dangerously shortsighted,” said Senator Marco Rubio. “A new law will force the Chinese owner to sell the app. “This is good for America,” said the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee.
Legal action has already been announced
TikTok did not initially respond to a Reuters request for comment, but had already announced legal action against the law this weekend.
TikTok has been denying the allegations for years
The law was passed by the Senate on Wednesday evening with a large majority of 79 to 18 votes. Bytedance is seen by all parties in the US as a Chinese company that must bow to the will of the Chinese Communist Party. There are therefore warnings that Chinese authorities could gain widespread access to US users’ data – and also use the platform for political influence. TikTok has been denying this for years.
New aid for Ukraine
The law, which was passed for the second time in the House of Representatives a few days ago, is this time part of a package that should, among other things, make new aid possible to Ukraine, which is under attack by Russia. That’s why it passed the Senate quickly on the second attempt.
The law puts Biden’s Democrats in a dilemma: on the one hand, the president wants to take a tough position on China, and on the other hand, the app is popular among young users, whose votes he needs for re-election in November. Biden’s campaign team only opened a TikTok account this year.
The company is based in the Caribbean
TikTok emphasizes that it does not see itself as a subsidiary of a Chinese company. Bytedance is 60 percent owned by Western investors. The company’s headquarters are in the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean. However, US politicians counter that the Chinese founders, with a 20 percent share, retained control thanks to higher voting rights and that Bytedance’s headquarters are in Beijing, where they cannot escape the influence of the authorities.
TikTok claims to have 170 million users in the US. During his term as US president, Donald Trump tried to force a sale of TikTok’s US operations to US investors, under threat of a ban.
Away from the call for a ban
But the plan failed mainly because US courts suspected that the plans for a TikTok ban would violate the freedom of expression enshrined in the US Constitution. A current law in the state of Montana that would ban TikTok from app stores there has also been suspended. Trump has now backed away from calls for a ban.
Source: Krone
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