Joe Biden says he would sign bill that would force a sale or ban of TikTok

Joe Biden says he would sign bill that would force a sale or ban of TikTok

TikTok’s future is looking increasingly uncertain as support grows for a new bill that would force the company to sell itself or face a ban in the . Now, President Joe Biden has come out in support of the measure, one day after it cleared its first legislative hurdle in the House.

“If they pass it, I’ll sign it,” he said, in remarks CBS News. The bill, called the “ Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” which was introduced earlier this week, would give TikTok a six-month window to divest itself from parent company ByteDance or face an -level ban in the US. Meanwhile, Republicans in the House of Representatives could bring the bill to a floor vote as early as Wednesday, Semafor .

TikTok has said the bill is a thinly-veiled effort to force a “total ban” of its app. “This has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States,” the company said in a statement earlier this week. “The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression. This will damage millions of businesses, deny artists an audience, and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country.”

The company has also encouraged its millions of to oppose the measure. On Thursday, ahead of the committee vote on the bill, the app sent push notifications prompting users to call their representatives and ask them to oppose the legislation. The notifications reportedly led to of calls in many Congressional offices as staffers fielded hundreds of calls from teens.

Notably, the bill has another prominent opponent: former President Donald Trump. Though Trump also sought to force of TikTok to a US company during his in office, the former president said he no longer believes the app should be banned. “If you get rid of TikTok, and Zuckerschmuck will double their ,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Though clearing the House would be significant for the bill, it’s unclear where the Senate stands on it. As Semafor points out, some prominent senators have been a bit more cautious in their comments about whether they would support the legislation. At a recent Senate hearing about child , several senators TikTok CEO Shou Chew on his own citizenship (he’s Singaporean) as well as the app’s ties to China and the practices of its parent company ByteDance.

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