TikTok’s future in the United States gets closer to being decided.

As AFROTECH™ previously told you, a 12-page bill had been passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in March 2024 to eradicate the platform’s use in the United States. The bill was created to “protect the national security of the United States from the threat posed by foreign adversary controlled applications,” per CBS News. If passed, ByteDance, the owner of the China-based platform, would have 180 days to sell TikTok for the app to remain accessible to U.S. users. If the company chooses to maintain ownership, the app and all other applications associated with ByteDance would be banned in the United States.

At the time, per AP News, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew shared in a statement, “We will not stop fighting and advocating for you. We will continue to do all we can, including exercising our legal rights, to protect this amazing platform that we have built with you.”

On Saturday, April 20, 2024, a modified version of the bill was passed, under a foreign exchange package that would give aid to Ukraine and Israel during their respective conflicts. The bill, passed by a 360-58 vote, would require ByteDance to sell its stake, per The Guardian. The new bill scales ByteDance’s timeframe to sell from six months to nine months, with an additional three months possible if a sale is initiated during that period, reports AP News.

The bill will now move to the Senate as early as Tuesday, April 23, 2024. 

“The Senate now stands ready to take the next step,” Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) said, according to The Washington Post.
Furthermore, President Joe Biden has already expressed his interest in co-signing the bill, per The Guardian.
“The House must pass the package this week, and the Senate should quickly follow,” President Biden expressed, according to another report by AP News.
The Guardian mentions that TikTok intends to challenge in court any efforts by the United States to ban or require it to sell the application.