A few days ago, the US Senate passed a law banning TikTok. It has just been approved by the president who is asking the company ByteDance to sell its social network.
This is an announcement that has not failed to cool down the famous social network Tik Tok. During the day of Wednesday, April 24, 2024, Joe Biden officially approved a law banning the application. Included in the $95 million foreign aid package, the new legislation stipulates that parent company ByteDance must divest Tik Tok within nine months to American players. Otherwise, if the company does not take action, the ban will be effective nationwide.
The Chinese social network, with 170 million Americans daily, is not at its first tensions with the country. The application has been in the sights of former President Donald Trump many times since he took office in 2017. Washington has repeatedly accused the social network of serving the interests of the Chinese capital and of using its videos for espionage and user manipulation. Comments which did not fail to provoke reactions from several managers of the company, who denied any proximity with the Chinese authorities.
But it was through a press release that the application defended itself by judging the president’s comments “unconstitutional”. Its spokesperson, Alex Haurek, said the company planned to challenge the law in court. An approach that could delay the deadline for implementing the law, while waiting to reach an agreement. The CEO of Tik Tok also spoke out, through the social network: “A ban on Tik Tok is a ban on you and your voice.”
It is complicated to imagine that China would let the sale of its social network go through. As a result, banning Tik Tok could lead to further tensions between the two superpowers.