The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a significant bill aimed at ByteDance, the parent company of popular social media platform TikTok.
Under the legislation, ByteDance is required to sell TikTok within a nine-month window or face a potential ban in the United States.
The bill, which garnered strong bipartisan support, also grants the president the authority to extend this deadline by an additional 90 days if deemed necessary.
The extension proposal, suggested by Senate Commerce chair Maria Cantwell, aims to increase the likelihood of ByteDance divesting its ownership of TikTok.
The bill forms part of a broader legislative package that includes foreign aid provisions for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
President Biden has signaled his support for the bill and plans to sign it into law.
However, the move is expected to face legal challenges from TikTok, which vehemently opposes the forced sale.
The Biden administration has cited national security concerns associated with TikTok as the primary rationale behind the legislation.
Despite the bipartisan backing in Congress, the proposed ban has met with criticism from civil liberties groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union.
These organizations argue that the ban infringes upon individual freedoms and raises concerns about government overreach in regulating online platforms.
