TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew says the company will challenge a recently-signed US law requiring the platform be sold off by Chinese parent company ByteDance or face a block in the US, and warned that the true goal of legislators is not to force a change of ownership but simply to ban access to the service outright.
After an extended period of wrangling, the US Congress passed a bill calling for TikTok's sale or block in March, sending it to the Senate, which voted to pass the bill on April 22.
One day later, US President Joe Biden signed the bill into law. Known formally as the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act and rolled into the much larger HR 815, a bill primarily about providing military aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, the law essentially forbids the distribution, maintenance, or updating of an application under the control of a «foreign adversary,» in this case China, and more specifically ByteDance and TikTok.
In a statement posted to Twitter, TikTok said the new law is unconstitutional and confirmed that it will challenge it in US courts. «The fact is, we have invested billions of dollars to keep US data safe and our platform free from outside influence and manipulation,» TikTok said. «This ban would devastate seven million businesses and silence 170 million Americans. »As we continue to challenge this unconstitutional ban, we will continue investing and innovating to ensure TikTok remains a space where Americans of all walks of life can safely come to share their experiences, find joy, and be inspired." In a TikTok video, Shou expressed similar sentiments and also claimed that the real goal of some US lawmakers is not to disconnect China from TikTok, but nothing less than an outright ban on the platform, presumably a more alarming potential outcome for people who use it. «That will take TikTok away from you and 170 million Americans who find community and connection on our platform,» Shou said.