President Joe Biden signed it TikTok invoice The law went into effect on Wednesday morning, officially starting the 270-day deadline for TikTok’s owner, China-based Bytedance, to sell the social media app or face a ban in American app stores.
“It’s a good day for America, it’s a good day for Europe and it’s a good day for world peace,” Biden said in one speech on Wednesday, shortly after signing a package of national security laws that included the TikTok law.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew immediately replied by saying, “We’re not going anywhere” in a video posted on his platform. TikTok has previously indicated that it will take legal action against the US government if this bill becomes law. The social media company views the law signed by Biden as an outright ban that would “trample” the free speech of its 170 million American users.
“Make no mistake, this is a ban, a ban on TikTok and a ban on you and your voice,” Chew said in the video. “Politicians might say otherwise. But don’t be confused.”
Despite years of efforts by American politicians to ban TikTok, Biden made no mention of TikTok, Bytedance or China in his speech Wednesday morning, fearing that the Chinese government is using the app to spy on Americans. Biden limited his words to condemning Vladimir Putin, signaling support for Israel and generally speaking about America’s ability to “stand up to dictators.”
Biden’s campaign plans to continue using TikTok throughout the election to reach younger voters NBC News. The president’s campaign launched an official TikTok account in February of this year. The @bidenhq The account has over 300,000 followers on TikTok and its videos have received around 3.8 million likes. An interesting coincidence is that TikTok’s 270-day countdown ends the day before the next presidential inauguration, but legal challenges will almost certainly impact the final date.
This week the TikTok bill flew through Congress as part of a $90 billion foreign aid package to Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel that also includes some humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. The inclusion of the TikTok law in this foreign aid package may have been a factor in its quick passage.
China has banned American apps like Google, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter for over a decade. Just last week, Apple was asked to remove it WhatsApp and threads of Chinese user devices. While TikTok isn’t the first app that has forced America to break away from China (Grindr in 2020), the TikTok bill is the first American law to do so. Biden set a new precedent on American app store freedom on Wednesday, but he didn’t even talk about it.