So what’s going on with the TikTok ban, and is it actually going to happen this time around?
Well, at the moment, it seems to be caught up in bureaucratic process. But if it is banned, or more accurately forced into U.S. ownership, it may well end up being available in the U.S. for another year, before any further action is required from TikTok’s current owners.
As a quick recap, early last month, a bipartisan bill was presented to the House Energy and Commerce Committee which essentially seeks to force TikTok into U.S. ownership, or face a ban in the region due to national security concerns. The bill was passed by the committee, and then the House of Representatives, which now paves the way for the next stage, which is a vote on the bill by the U.S. Senate.
Though how long that step will take is unclear.
The Senate has just resumed after its Easter recess, and there’s some finalization required before the TikTok bill will be heard.
And there’s also been some discussion about the details of the sell-off push, and how long TikTok owner ByteDance would have to sell the platform, if the bill does get approved.
In the original documentation, it stated that ByteDance would have six months to organize the sale of the app to a U.S. company before any action was enforced. Now, that could be extended to a year, in order to reduce concerns around restrictions on its business.
Which would mean that TikTok will likely remain available in the U.S. for some time before its true fate is even known one way or another.
Though at present, it does seem that if the bill is approved, that would be tantamount to an eventual ban of TikTok in essence.
Chinese authorities, incensed by the proposal to restrict a Chinese business, have said that they will not allow the sale of the app, which would mean that TikTok wouldn’t be able to shift into U.S. ownership, and U.S. users, at the least, would eventually lose access.
But again, the final action looks set to be a long way off, with the Senate to first approve the bill (which, given comments from various Senators, may not happen), and then U.S. President Joe Biden required to sign off on it before its enacted.
Maybe, with all of these steps, that could end up taking this beyond the upcoming election, and with Republican nominee Donald Trump opposed to the sell off proposal, that could mean that it gets dumped either way, depending on the outcome of the vote.
So, basically, we don’t know how long the next step will take, but either way, you can expect TikTok to be around for some time yet.
