Apr 25, 2024
Following US President Joe Biden’s decision to sign legislation to ban TikTok, CEO Shou Zi Chew said that the social media company will fight a legal battle.
In a video posted moments after Biden signed the bill that gives China-based ByteDance 270 days to divest TikTok's US assets or face a ban, the CEO of the popular short video app — which is used by 170 million Americans — said: "Rest assured - we aren't going anywhere. The facts and the Constitution are on our side and we expect to prevail again."
Biden's signing sets a January 19 deadline for a sale — one day before his term is set to expire - but he could extend the deadline by three months if he determines ByteDance is making progress. Biden is seeking a second term against former President Donald Trump.
"We don't want to see a ban," White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday. "This is about PRC ownership," she added, referring to the People's Republic of China.
In 2020, Trump was blocked by the courts in his bid to ban TikTok and Chinese-owned WeChat, a unit of Tencent (0700.HK), opens new tab, in the United States. Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, has reversed course and said on Monday that Biden was "pushing" for a ban on TikTok and would be the one responsible if a ban were imposed, urging voters to take notice.
"Make no mistake - this is a ban on TikTok," Chew said, emphasizing that TikTok would continue to operate as the company challenges the restrictions.
TikTok is set to challenge the bill on First Amendment grounds and TikTok users are expected to again take legal action. A U.S. judge in Montana in November blocked a state ban on TikTok, citing free-speech grounds.
The American Civil Liberties Union said banning or requiring divestiture of TikTok would "set an alarming global precedent for excessive government control over social media platforms."
However, the new legislation is likely to give the Biden administration a stronger legal footing to ban TikTok if ByteDance fails to divest the app, experts say.
If ByteDance failed to divest TikTok, app stores operated by Apple, Alphabet's Google and others could not legally offer TikTok or provide Web hosting services to ByteDance-controlled applications or TikTok's website.
Senator Laphonza Butler, a California Democrat, urged the White House to consider the fate of 8,000 US employees of TikTok, many of whom are in New York or California.
"We must acknowledge the impact on TikTok workers, and our local economies, as we determine a path forward," Butler told Biden in a letter.
The bill would also give the White House new tools to ban or force the sale of other foreign-owned apps it deems to be security threats.
Democratic Senator Ron Wyden said he was concerned the bill "provides broad authority that could be abused by a future administration to violate Americans' First Amendment rights."
Biden's re-election campaign plans to continue using TikTok, a campaign official said on Wednesday. Trump's campaign has not joined TikTok.
Biden signed legislation in late 2022 that barred US government employees from using TikTok on government phones.
— Additional input from Reuters
