The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which would ban the app TikTok in the U.S. if the parent company, ByteDance, does not sell the app within the next 12 months, was signed into law on Tuesday.
The bill passed in the House on March 13, with a 352-65 vote, and the Senate passed the bill Tuesday with a vote of 79-18. President Joe Biden then signed the bill into law.
Supporters of the bill said the reason for the ban is the amount of control the Chinese government has over the app and access to the data of many American citizens.
“This is a tool that is ultimately within the control of the Chinese government,” Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI, said to Congress.
In early April, ByteDance had no buyers for the app, and it has now threatened to sue the U.S. government, according to the Associated Press. It has also been predicted that the U.S. government will respond to this legal action with national security claims.
If ByteDance does not sell the app within the 12-month timeframe, TikTok will be prohibited from all app stores in the U.S. and any internet services that currently support it, CNN reported. However, if TikTok is already downloaded on a user’s device, it is unlikely to disappear from a smartphone or mobile device, according to the AP.
