By: Ethan Chau

In April 2024, President Joe Biden signed a bill that would force Byte-Dance to sell their beloved app, TikTok. The U.S. created this bill because of their concerns and their suspicion on how the Chinese government may use the app.

After Joe Biden signed the bill that would give Byte-Dance 270 days to sell Tik-Tok, the company sued the federal government in a case that is likely to end in front of the Supreme Court.

Lawmakers and regulators are concerned that China may use TikTok to gain sensitive user data and fuel misinformation. However, TikTok has long denied the allegations and has even tried to distance itself from Byte-Dance by moving workers away from China.

Despite, the people at TikTok are still eager to fight for and defend the app. Michael Beckerman, TikTok’s Vice President of Public Policy, said, “We’ll continue to fight for you and all the other users on TikTok.”

The ban will target app store, and if Byte-Dance tries to update or distribute the app, then the federal government could impose civil penalties on the company. Not only that, but Internet hosting companies won’t be able to help distribute or maintain TikTok.

Many other countries have also banned TikTok. In 2020, India banned the social media app, claiming that it secretly transmitted users’ data to foreign servers. Countries and government bodies such as Britain and its parliament, Australia, Canada, France, the European Union, and New Zealand’s parliament have also already banned TikTok from their area.

Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/article/tiktok-ban.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/technology/bytedance-tiktok-ban-bill.html