The President of the United States, Joe Biden, signed a bill today (24) determining that ByteDance, the company that owns the TikTok, has nine months to get rid of the social network. Otherwise, the platform will be banned across the country.
The project, which was attached to the US$95 million (approximately R$489 million) package in military aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan last week, is in force due to concerns on the part of the US government that the TikTok is collecting and sharing user data with the Chinese government.
In response, the application argues that ByteDance “is not an agent of China or any other country”, reinforcing that 60% of it is controlled by global companies. In line, the head of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, shared that the platform invests billions of dollars to free it from any external influence or manipulation and keep US data safe.
“We are confident and will continue to fight for their rights in the courts. The facts and the Constitution are on our side… rest assured, we are not going anywhere”, said the head of TikTok about the case.
In a video posted on the platform, Shou Zi Chew further criticized the bill and appealed to US users, who responded to the request, to share how important the social network is to them. As a final touch, Shou touched on one of the issues that most affect Americans: freedom of expression.
“Make no mistake, this is a ban. A ban on TikTok, a ban on you and your voice.”
Despite the appeal, the movement by the company and its users was not enough to block the United States’ decision, which had the support of the majority of legislators, with 79 senators in favor and 18 against the bill.
“For years, we allowed the Chinese Communist Party to control one of the most popular apps in America… that was dangerously shortsighted. A new law will require its Chinese owner to sell the app. This is a good move for America,” said Marco Rubio, senator and the top Republican on the US House Intelligence Committee.
Despite the confidence on the part of the senator, the process could take years to be concluded in the Supreme Court, which would delay the blocking of the application in the country.
Other factors that could be obstacles to the bill are the efforts of some political entities to block the ban on TikTok, such as a federal judge in the state of Montana in November 2023, but mainly the great popularity of the social network among young people. In the United States alone, TikTok has approximately 150 million users.
Furthermore, the nine-month period is also a variable that complicates the case.
According to Jennifer Huddleston, from the Cato Institute in Washington, “Nine months is a very quick deadline for a transaction of this size, it is something that will probably have more regulatory scrutiny, even without the requirements of this proposal”.
ByteDance needs to sell TikTok… but to whom?
The United States government is pressuring ByteDance to give up TikTok in the country, but the question that arises is: who would be able to buy a social network that, in the US alone, could cost up to R$50 billion?
The legislation grants the company that owns the social network an extra period of up to three months, in addition to the nine previously mentioned, to find a new buyer before the ban comes into force.
Therefore, until the conclusion of this process, which may only be completed in April 2025, many things could change, including United States policy itself, given that former president Donald Trump intends to win the title again. He who was initially in favor of banning TikTok in the country, became actively against it, arguing that this would strengthen Facebook (currently Meta), a company he doesn’t have a good relationship with since he was banned from Mark Zuckerberg’s networks.
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