Beijing [China], April 25: TikTok's chief executive said on Wednesday the social media company expects to win a legal challenge to block legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden that he said would ban its popular short video app used by 170 million Americans.
Biden's signing sets a Jan. 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.
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.
Many experts question if any potential buyer has the financial resources to buy TikTok and if China and U.S. government agencies would approve a sale.
Driven by widespread worries among U.S. lawmakers that China could access Americans' data or surveil them with the app, the bill was overwhelmingly passed late on Tuesday by the U.S. Senate. The U.S. House of Representatives approved it on Saturday.
The four-year battle over TikTok is a significant front in a war over the internet and technology between Washington and Beijing. Last week, Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab said China had ordered it to remove Meta Platforms' (META.O), opens new tab WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China over Chinese national security concerns.
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 (GOOGL.O), opens new tab 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 U.S. employees of TikTok, many of whom are in New York or California.
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 U.S. government employees from using TikTok on government phones.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation