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Two influential Senate lawmakers, Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), have called on President Biden to grant TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, a 90-day extension to comply with a federal mandate requiring its divestment from the popular app to avoid a nationwide ban scheduled for January 19.
Some shit you should know before you read: Earlier this year, Congress overwhelmingly approved a federal law requiring TikTok to separate from its Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance, by January 19, or face a nationwide ban. The legislation, passed in April as part of a broader foreign aid package, garnered bipartisan support, with a 352-65 vote in the House and a 79-18 vote in the Senate. Lawmakers expressed significant concerns about national security, citing fears that TikTok could allow the Chinese government to access US user data, engage in surveillance, or promote propaganda. The law mandates that TikTok divest from ByteDance to continue operating in the US and directs companies like Apple and Google to remove TikTok from app stores if compliance is not met by January 19, 2024.
What’s going on now: In a letter directed to President Biden, Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) requested a 90-day extension to the January 19 deadline for TikTok to divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. The senators argued that the current timeline is insufficient for such a complex divestiture, warning that the impending ban would create significant disruption. They wrote, “The stakes here are high: As a practical matter, even if the Court rules that the law is constitutional by the January deadline, ByteDance cannot divest TikTok in that limited time.” They added without action, “TikTok will soon be banned in the United States, causing its creators and users serious hardship.”
Markey and Paul also pointed out that the law was passed with limited debate and urged a reconsideration of its broader implications. At the present moment, the White House has not commented on the letter and it’s unclear if President Biden will intervene.
This all comes as TikTok’s legal efforts to halt the ban have faced significant setbacks, with a federal appeals court recently rejecting the platform’s challenge to the law. TikTok had argued that the ban violates the First Amendment rights of its users and creators, as well as the company’s right to operate freely in the US After the appeals court upheld the law and refused to pause its enforcement, TikTok filed an emergency request with the Supreme Court earlier this month, asking for the ban to be delayed while its broader case is considered. The Supreme Court has since agreed to hear oral arguments on January 10, leaving little time for resolution before the January 19 deadline.
