Among a package of military aid bills it passed Tuesday, the U.S. Senate approved a bill that requires TikTok parent company ByteDance to sell the video hosting platform or risk the government banning the app for all U.S. users.
President Joe Biden signed the bill into law Wednesday. If ByteDance refuses to sell TikTok within a year, it will be banned.
Advocates of a ban argue that ByteDance has a record of cooperation with the ruling Chinese Communist Party and fear that the app will provide American users’ data to the Chinese government.
However, TikTok has pushed back on these claims, arguing that it provides a firewall between user data and any outside manipulation.
"This ban would devastate seven million businesses and silence 170 million Americans," the TikTok Policy account wrote Wednesday in a post on X. "The fact is, we have invested billions of dollars to keep U.S. data safe and our platform free from outside influence and manipulation.
"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," the post added.
TikTok has launched a political offensive, encouraging its 170 million users to call lawmakers and spending $5 million on TV ads opposing the legislation, according to advertising tracking company AdImpact.
TikTok has targeted young voters -- its primary user base -- with its advertising, raising fears in the Democratic Party that a ban would alienate consistent left-wing voters.
In an interview with Bloomberg News last month, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo warned against support for a TikTok ban.
"The politician in me thinks you’re gonna literally lose every voter under 35, forever," she said.
But Joshua Kurlantzick, a senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the ban will likely take effect regardless of these political concerns.
"Even if these young people are the voters that President Biden desperately needs to win reelection, TikTok still needs to be banned," Kurlantzick wrote to VOA Chinese.
TikTok has aimed its TV ads at battleground states, including Nevada, Montana, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio, where vulnerable Democratic senators are facing difficult reelection fights this fall.
The company has also boosted its lobbying efforts, employing five public relations firms and spending more than $19.9 million on lobbying since last October, according to analysis by the nonprofit OpenSecrets.
Jeremy Hurewitz, a strategic adviser at corporate intelligence consulting firm Interfor International, said TikTok’s efforts are unlikely to be successful because China is one of the few areas where lawmakers find bipartisan agreement.
"The United States system may be chaotic, but when it comes to China, the political system is aware of the threat China poses to the United States," Hurewitz told VOA Chinese.
Analysts have raised concerns about free speech over the potential ban.
"This legislation is unconstitutional and a real blow to the free expression rights of 170 million people who create and engage with content on TikTok," said Kate Ruane, director of the Free Expression Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology, a nonprofit that advocates for digital rights.
"Congress shouldn't be in the business of banning platforms," Ruane wrote to VOA. "They should be working to enact comprehensive privacy legislation that protects our private data no matter where we choose to engage online."
Joel Thayer, lawyer and president of Digital Progress Institute, a nonprofit organization that aims to promote public interest in the digital economy, wrote to VOA that the ban displays to Chinese companies that the U.S. government is willing to risk profit for national security.
"I think the message is very clear — feel free to provide your services but ensure to the American public that your company is not owned and controlled by the CCP," Thayer wrote to VOA. "If you want to do business in the United States, then you cannot collect sensitive data or pursue espionage campaigns at the behest of the Chinese government."
Lisa Plaggemier, executive director of the National Cybersecurity Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for cybersecurity, said the ban is necessary to uphold national security.
"The scale of TikTok's user engagement, combined with China's track record of aggressive cyber activities, raises the specter of sophisticated cyberthreats targeting American users, including surveillance, data breaches and manipulation of online discourse," Plaggemier wrote to VOA.
"The platform's interactive nature and extensive reach make it an attractive target for malicious actors seeking to undermine national security or advance foreign interests," Plaggemier added. "As such, policymakers face the critical task of balancing the benefits of information sharing and social connectivity with the imperative to protect citizens from cyber vulnerabilities inherent in platforms like TikTok."
