WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) -President Biden, on Wednesday, signed a bill that contains a potential ban on the social media network TikTok.
The bill states that TikTok has nine months to divest itself from China and that TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, sells the platform to another company. If a sale is agreed to, the bill allows for an extra three months before a ban goes into effect.
So the clock is officially ticking for TikTok.
As you’ve likely heard, the primary concern revolves around user data. TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is based in China, and there are fears that the Chinese government could demand access to user information—especially from U.S. users.
While many people believe a ban will not survive reviews and lawsuits, consumer advocate Stephen Kent of the non-partisan non-profit group Consumer Choice Center says, this time may be TikTok’s last stand in the United States.
“What we really don’t know, as consumers and American citizens is, what else has Congress determined,” Kent wonders. “It says there’s something bigger here that we don’t understand or know about in the realm of private citizens.”
TikTok argues that a ban would violate Freedom of Speech and the First Amendment which is an argument that proved successful when Montana tried to ban TikTok over a year ago.
Kent says it won’t be the reason a ban could be enacted this time.
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