- The Senate just passed a TikTok "ban" as part of a larger foreign aid bill.
- Once Biden signs it into law, ByteDance will have 270 days to sell TikTok.
- Trump tried to institute a similar ban via executive order, but it was struck down by in court.
The Senate passed a multifaceted bill Tuesday evening that would effectively ban TikTok from the US app store once President Joe Biden signs it, as he has signaled he will. The final vote was 79 in favor and 18 opposed.
The House of Representatives passed a series of bills over the weekend to send foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and humanitarian funding for the Gaza Strip. Tucked into the foreign aid bills was text forcing TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, to sell the social media service to an American one or face a ban.
The House passed a similar bill in March, pressuring ByteDance to divest in 180 days. The newer version gives ByteDance 270 days to divest, a decision that appears to have been enough to sway Senate Commerce Committee Chair Sen. Maria Cantwell.
Cantwell did not support the previous TikTok bill, saying she was unsure it could pass legal scrutiny. This is a problem other Senators have pointed out, given the legislation specifically identifies ByteDance by name.
Biden has said for months that he'll pass the legislation once it reaches his desk. In his last year in office, former President Donald Trump tried to force ByteDance to sell to an American company via executive order, but a federal district court struck down the order.
The bill's passage in the Senate comes after months of lobbying against it by TikTok — the app prompted its users to reach out to their representatives and voice their displeasure, and its CEO personally traveled to Washington, DC, to try to stop it — as well as reportedly China itself. Politico reported earlier in April that officials from the Chinese Embassy met with congressional staffers to voice their displeasure with the legislation.
TikTok has vowed to challenge the bill in court once Biden signs it.
Enacting the TikTok "ban" could hurt Biden's chances at reelection in November, given the app's popularity among younger demographics and the likelihood of a close final vote. Trump may have picked up on that, too — earlier in the year, he spoke against banning TikTok despite his actions while president.