TikTok has walked an extremely rocky road in the United States recently. The government is working hard to ban the app. Just recently, the House of Representatives approved a bill that would force ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, to sell the app within a year or be banned in the U.S.
That same bill made its way to the Senate last night, and it was passed, bringing the potential TikTok ban one step closer to a reality. This isn't the government's first attempt to ban the popular social video sharing application, but it does appear to be the attempt with the best chance of success, as the bill was signed by Joe Biden on Wednesday morning.
Just minutes after the Senate approved the bill, the U.S. President released a statement saying he intends to sign the bill into law on Wednesday. "I will sign this bill into law and address the American people as soon as it reaches my desk tomorrow so we can begin sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week," President Biden said in an official statement. As promised, the President signed the bill into law on April 24, 2024.
Now that Biden signed the bill, ByteDance will have approximately nine months to sell the company or face a ban. President Biden does have the option to extend the sale period by 90 days, giving TikTok's parent company a whole year to make a sale.
The Chinese-owned company is expected to fight the ban aggressively. Just last week, it made a statement claiming that the U.S. House is "using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans."
More from Tom's Guide
- TikTok ban explained — everything you need to know
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- TikTok ban update — what it could mean for you and what happens next
