Tag: tiktok ban

TikTok Ban Looms as President Biden Signs Law With 270-Day Sale Deadline

For TikTok, the clock has started running in its existential fight to avoid a US ban.

Legislation requiring the social media app’s Chinese owners to divest sailed through Congress, capped by Senate passage late Tuesday as part of a larger foreign-aid package. President Joe Biden signed into law Wednesday, beginning a 270-day countdown for a sale or a US prohibition of the popular video-sharing platform.

TikTok and Beijing-based ByteDance have vowed to do all they can to stop the measure. They’ve argued it infringes the free-speech rights of the app’s 170 million monthly US users and plan to file suits to void the law or at least delay its enforcement.

“We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and we will ultimately prevail,” TikTok said Wednesday in a post on X.

Biden’s signature culminated years of scrutiny in Washington, where regulators and lawmakers from both parties have voiced increased concern that TikTok’s Chinese ownership poses a risk to US national security. Proponents of the bill claim that China’s government uses TikTok as a propaganda tool and could demand that ByteDance share US users’ data — allegations the company and officials in Beijing have denied.

With the legal battle set to unfold, TikTok’s US users face a wave of uncertainty about a place to express themselves via video, make money as influencers or sell wares on TikTok Shop. If implemented, a TikTok ban would risk disrupting “a critical channel for engaging with younger audiences and building brand visibility,” said Damian Rollison, director of market insights at SOCi.

“TikTok’s unique format has allowed businesses to showcase products and services creatively, leveraging trends and user-generated content to connect with potential customers,” Rollison said.

TikTok has invoked economic arguments against the law, saying content creators and merchants who make a living from posting videos and selling goods would be hurt financially. While many US lawmakers who backed the newly passed federal bill think it would survive court review, some rights groups say the First Amendment will be a more difficult hurdle to clear.

“The US government can say that a foreign company can’t do business in the US — it’s just more difficult when the foreign business is a communications system that US users use to communicate with each other,” David Greene, civil liberties director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said in an interview. “That just has different legal issues.”

When Montana passed a law in 2023 that would outlaw TikTok in the state, the company and a group of content creators sued in separate requests, saying the state measure violated free expression rights under the US Constitution’s First Amendment. The company funded the users’ lawsuit, according to the New York Times. The judge reviewing the case blocked the ban before it could go into effect.

ByteDance sees a TikTok divestiture as a last resort, according to people familiar with the matter. TikTok’s parent expects it can get a restraining order on the legislation, then wage a legal battle that could last more than a year, Bloomberg has reported.

“We’ll continue to fight,” Michael Beckerman, TikTok’s head of public policy for the Americas, said in a memo to US staff this past week. “This is the beginning, not the end of this long process.”

If TikTok can’t slow enforcement through the legal system, another chance of avoiding a separation may lie with a new administration. Biden’s signing the bill on Wednesday puts the divestiture deadline to Jan. 19 — a day before the next presidential inauguration.

Under the bill, Biden has the option to extend that deadline by an additional 90 days if he sees progress toward a sale. That would push a possible ban well into the next presidential term.

Biden’s opponent in the November election, Donald Trump, has recently come out against a TikTok ban, saying it could boost rival Meta Platforms Inc. — which previously suspended Trump from its platforms. For Trump, that marked a reversal from his decision while president to ban the app via a 2020 executive order that was later voided by federal courts. 

The political sensitivities of targeting a social media platform popular with younger users during a US election year were not lost on the bill’s supporters.

“This is not an effort to take your voice away,” Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat and chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday before the vote. “To young Americans, I want to say, we hear your concern. We hope that TikTok will continue under new ownership.”

Passage marks a significant setback in Washington for ByteDance, which spent $2.7 million in the first quarter on federal lobbying efforts after shelling out a record $8.7 million last year, according to congressional filings. TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Chew made personal appeals on Capitol Hill in an unsuccessful bid to stifle the legislation. 

Meanwhile, the company spent more than $2 billion on shielding sensitive US user data, with help from Texas-based Oracle Corp., to try to show that its platform is safe.

With the app back in regulatory and legal limbo, many TikTok users aren’t fleeing just yet. But those who make money on the app are reviewing their options.

Educational Insights, which owns the popular Kanoodle puzzle game, has been using TikTok videos for several years to market its products. The company was among the first merchants to join TikTok Shop as part of an early test before it officially went live.

“At the moment we are definitely monitoring closely,” said Alyssa Weiss, Educational Insights’ senior marketing manager. “We will be ready to pivot should the need arise, but for now, we are still actively rolling out our TikTok plans.”

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US Lawmakers Consider Changes to Bill That Could Give Government New Powers to Ban TikTok

U.S. lawmakers are considering changes to address concerns about a bill that would give the Biden administration new powers to ban Chinese-owned TikTok, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee who has cosponsored the legislation said on Monday.

Democratic Senator Mark Warner told Reuters that aggressive lobbying by the ByteDance-owned short video app TikTok against the Restrict Act “slowed a bit of our momentum” after it was introduced in March.

Warner said lawmakers have “a proposal on a series of amendments to make it explicitly clear” and address criticisms, including that individual Americans could be impacted or that the bill represents a broad expansion of government power.

“We can take care of those concerns in a fair way,” Warner said.

The legislation endorsed by the White House would grant the Commerce Department new authority to review, block, and address a range of transactions involving foreign information and communications technology that pose national security risks.

“I will grant TikTok this – they spent $100 million  (roughly Rs. 820 crore) in lobbying and slowed a bit of our momentum,” Warner said, adding that initially it seemed it would be almost “too easy” to get the bill approved.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Warner’s assessment of its lobbying.

In March, Republican Senator Rand Paul blocked a bid to fast-track a separate bill to ban TikTok introduced by Senator Josh Hawley, who said the Restrict Act “doesn’t ban TikTok. It gives the president a whole bunch of new authority.”

The Biden administration in March demanded TikTok’s Chinese owners divest their stakes or face a U.S. ban. Attempts in 2020 by then President Donald Trump to ban TikTok were blocked by U.S. courts.

Warner said there are a lot of conversations about the bill, adding it could be attached to an annual defense bill or could be part of a China-related bill that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer wants.

The need for legislation is clear, he said.

“There have been another three or four apps that have come out that are Chinese controlled so we need a fair rules-based process to deal with this rather than kind of a one-off basis,” Warner said.

TikTok, which is used by more than 150 million Americans, says it has spent more than $1.5 billion (roughly Rs. 12,400 crore) on rigorous data security efforts and rejects spying allegations.

The company is fighting a ban by the state of Montana set to take effect on January 1. A judge has scheduled an October 12 hearing on TikTok’s request.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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TikTok Usage Banned on Irish Government Devices Amid Cybersecurity Concerns

The state body responsible for advising the Irish government on cyber security recommended on Friday that staff at government departments and state agencies not use Chinese-owned video app TikTok on official devices.

A number of Western countries including Britain, the US and other European Union member states have barred TikTok over security concerns. The EU’s two biggest policymaking institutions also banned the app last month.

TikTok, which is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, is under scrutiny from governments and regulators because of concerns that China’s government could use its app to harvest users’ data or advance its interests.

The head of Ireland’s National Cyber Security Centre said TikTok is on the “very high end, if not the highest end in terms of the amount of user data it collects” and that this created a risk, given the nature of Chinese intelligence-gathering law.

“The issue here is not what we know to be happening. The issue here rather is what we can’t rule out is happening,” NCSC director Richard Browne told national broadcaster RTE.

“Once the risk exists in this kind of context, then it puts us in a situation where the logical argument is that we take a sensible risk-based approach and ensure that government data can’t be compromised in this way.”

The NCSC said there was no reason why politicians could not use the app on their private devices and that it could be used on official devices in exceptional cases where there is a business need, such as by a press office.

TikTok runs a number of its European operations from Dublin, including data privacy and protection. It announced last month that it would open a second data centre in Ireland and reduce the transfer of data outside of the EU.

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TikTok Creators, US Lawmakers Oppose Potential Ban on Chinese-Owned Video Sharing App

TikTok creators and three US Democratic Party lawmakers on Wednesday said they opposed any potential ban on the Chinese-owned short video sharing app that is used by more than 150 million Americans.

On Thursday TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify before the US House Energy and Commerce Committee amid growing calls for a ban over national security concerns at a time when relations between Beijing and Washington have deteriorated.

Representatives Jamaal Bowman, Mark Pocan and Robert Garcia and TikTok creators called at a press conference in Washington for broad-based privacy legislation that would address all large social media companies.

“Why the hysteria and the panic and the targeting of TikTok?” Bowman asked. “Let’s do the right thing here – comprehensive social media reform as it relates to privacy and security.”

Still, far more US lawmakers want TikTok banned. Critics fear that TikTok user data in the United States could be passed on to China’s government. Last week, TikTok said the administration of President Joe Biden demanded its Chinese owners divest their stakes or it face a potential ban.

Creators talked on Wednesday about posting videos of baking cakes or selling greeting cards to TikTok followers. Some held up signs saying TikTok benefits small businesses. TikTok says 5 million businesses use the app.

TikTok creator Jason Linton uses TikTok to share videos of his three adopted children in Oklahoma and has interacted with people around the world.

“I am asking our politicians – don’t take away the community that we’ve all built – a community that lasts, that loves,” Linton said at the press conference.

Pocan said a “xenophobic witch hunt” is motivating some in Congress to seek a TikTok ban. “Banning TikTok isn’t the answer. Making sure Americans data is safe is,” he said.

Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat, said on the Senate floor on Wednesday that TikTok is a threat that needs to be addressed but it is not the only surveillance threat to young people. That position “is deliberately missing the Big Tech forest for the TikTok trees.”

Democratic Senator Mark Warner said two additional senators backed his bipartisan legislation with Republican John Thune to give the Biden administration new powers to ban TikTok.

“Congress needs to give the administration the tools to review and mitigate the harms posed by foreign technology products that come from adversarial nations,” Warner said.

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TikTok CEO Says Company at ‘Pivotal’ Moment as Calls for Ban in US Grow

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said the Chinese-owned short video app company faces a pivotal moment as a growing number of US lawmakers seek to ban the popular app over national security concerns.

Chew said in a video posted on TikTok early Tuesday the app now has more than 150 million active monthly US users. “That’s almost half the US coming to TikTok,” Chew said. TikTok in 2020 said it had 100 million US users.

Chew, who will testify Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said: “Some politicians have started talking about banning TikTok.”

“Now this could take TikTok away from all 150 million of you,” he said in the video that features the US Capitol in the background.

He asked TikTok users to leave comments about what they wanted US lawmakers to know about “what you love about TikTok.”

Chew also said 5 million US businesses use TikTok to reach customers.

TikTok’s critics fear its US user data could be passed on to China’s government by the app, which is owned by the Chinese tech company ByteDance. TikTok rejects the spying allegations.

TikTok also said Tuesday it had updated its community use guidelines and offered more details of its plans to secure the data of US users. The company said it had started to delete this month US user protected data in data centers in Virginia and Singapore after it started routing new US data to the Oracle Cloud last year.

Last week, TikTok said the Biden administration demanded that TikTok’s Chinese owners divest their stake in the app or it could face a US ban.

TikTok, which has said it has spent more than $1.5 billion (roughly Rs. 12,396 crore) on rigorous data security efforts, said “if protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn’t solve the problem: a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access.”

A growing number of US lawmakers support a ban on TikTok. This includes Energy and Commerce Committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, congressional aides told reporters on a call Monday. On Friday, six more US senators backed bipartisan legislation to give Biden new powers to ban TikTok.

On March 1, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee voted along party lines to give President Joe Biden new powers to ban TikTok.

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New Bill Could Ban TikTok, Other Foreign Technology Products in US Over Data Collection Concerns

Two US senators plan to introduce legislation this week aimed at letting the government “ban or prohibit” foreign technology products such as Chinese-owned TikTok, Senator Mark Warner said on Sunday.

Warner, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said TikTok would be “one of the potentials” for review under the bill. The Democratic senator made the comments on Fox News Sunday.

The bill comes at a time when TikTok is under intensifying pressure over concerns that data about U.S. users could end up in the hands of the Chinese government.

The US House Foreign Affairs Committee voted on Wednesday to give President Joe Biden the power to ban TikTok, in what would be the most far-reaching U.S. restriction on any social media app.

The White House last week gave government agencies 30 days to ensure that TikTok is not on any federal devices and systems. More than 30 US states, Canada and European Union policy institutions have also banned TikTok from being loaded onto state-owned devices.

Warner said he was concerned that TikTok “can be a propaganda tool” based on the types of videos it sends to users.

He said the bill he plans to introduce “would say, in terms of foreign technology coming into America, we’ve got to have a systematic approach to make sure we can ban or prohibit it when necessary.”

He said he planned to introduce the legislation this week with Republican Senator John Thune. A spokesperson for Warner said they expected to make an announcement on Tuesday.

Details about the proposed bill were not available on Sunday. A spokesman for Thune did not immediately respond to questions about the plan.

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TikTok Accuses EU of Not Consulting It Over Staff Phone Ban

TikTok accused the European Commission on Friday of failing to consult it over a decision to ban the Chinese short video sharing app from staff phones on cybersecurity grounds, a move subsequently followed by another top EU body.

The app, which is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, is facing growing scrutiny from Western authorities over concerns that China’s government could use it to harvest people’s data. Beijing has regularly denied having any such intentions.

The EU executive and the EU Council, which brings together representatives of the member states to set policy priorities, said on Thursday staff will also be required to remove TikTok from personal mobile devices that have access to corporate services.

TikTok, which has in the past said that data on its service can not be accessed by Beijing, said it had not been told or contacted by either institution ahead of their decisions.

“So we are really operating under a cloud. And the lack of transparency and the lack of due process. Quite frankly one would expect, you know, some sort of engagement on this matter,” Caroline Greer, TikTok’s director of public policy and government relations, told Reuters.

She said she cold not respond to the bodies’ cybersecurity concerns because they had not spelled them out.

The European Commission pointed to EU industry chief Thierry Breton’s comments at a news conference on Thursday where he said the EU executive does not have to give reasons for decisions taken to ensure its proper functions.

“To suspend the use of TikTok is a purely internal decision for cybersecurity reasons to protect the Council General Secretariat’s (GSC) data and staff. As the GSC has no contractual relationship with TikTok, there is no obligation to consult or inform them,” an EU official said.

Greer said TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, who met Breton and other commissioners in Brussels in January, was “concerned and a little puzzled”.

“He has always been very available, you know, responding to the Commission… We have reached out for a meeting in whatever shape or form they would like that to happen.”

Other EU institutions should do their own research before making decisions on the app, Greer said.

TikTok is banned on US Senate employees’ government-owned devices and also in India. The European Parliament has not taken such a step.

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TikTok Banned From Government Devices in Two US States Over Security Concerns; Huawei, Tencent Also Barred

The governors of Wisconsin and North Carolina on Thursday signed orders banning TikTok on government devices due to cyber security concerns, joining other US states and the federal government in prohibiting the use of the popular video app.

In addition to banning Chinese-owned TikTok from state devices, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said he was banning vendors, products and services from other Chinese companies including Huawei Technologies, Hikvision, Tencent Holdings – the owner of WeChat, ZTE Corp as well as Russian-based Kaspersky Lab.

“In the digital age, defending our state’s technology and cybersecurity infrastructure and protecting digital privacy have to be a top priority for us as a state,” Evers said.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper signed an order directing officials to develop a policy within 14 days that prohibits the use of TikTok, WeChat and “potentially other applications” that present cybersecurity risks on state devices.

More than 20 other states have also banned TikTok, owned by Chinese technology conglomerate ByteDance, from state devices including Ohio, New Jersey and Arkansas earlier this week.

TikTok said it was “disappointed that so many states are jumping on the political bandwagon to enact policies that will do nothing to advance cybersecurity in their states and are based on unfounded falsehoods about TikTok.”

The Democratic governors of Wisconsin and North Carolina joined mostly Republican governors who have led the charge to ban TikTok from state devices.

Calls to ban TikTok from government devices gained steam after US FBI Director Christopher Wray said in November it poses national security risks.

Wray flagged the threat that the Chinese government could harness the app to influence users or control their devices.

For three years, TikTok – which has more than 100 million users – has been seeking to assure Washington that the personal data of US citizens cannot be accessed and its content cannot be manipulated by China’s Communist Party or any other entity under Beijing’s influence.

Last month, US President Joe Biden signed into law a government funding bill that included a ban on federal employees from using or downloading TikTok on government-owned devices.

The law gives the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 60 days “to develop standards and guidelines for executive agencies requiring the removal” of TikTok from federal devices. OMB declined to comment Thursday.

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