President Joe Biden signed legislation giving ByteDance 270 days to sell TikTok or face a US ban.
The clock has started ticking for the company ByteDance, which will now have nine months to sell its popular application, and if Biden deems it necessary, the deadline can be extended by an additional three months. If TikTok is not sold within the allotted time, the short-form video streaming platform will be banned from US soil.
The first man of TikTok, Shou Zi Chu, says that he and his partners will challenge the new law in courtciting the First Amendment, which guarantees free speech, as the reason he believes TikTok will win this legal battle.
“This is obviously a disappointing moment, but it doesn’t have to be decisive. This is actually ironic, because freedom of expression on TikTok reflects the same values that make the United States of America a beacon of freedom.”says Chu.
Voting of the law will “trampling the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, destroying seven million businesses, and shutting down a platform that contributes $24 billion a year to the U.S. economy”he announced ByteDance last week and added that it has no plans to sell TikTok — a move that would certainly require China’s approval. Official Beijing has already announced that it will oppose any such move.
It remains to be seen whether and how ByteDance will actually be successful in court China’s response if the company is not successful in its attempt to defeat the law in court.
