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Odds of U.S. TikTok Ban Increase After House Fast-Tracks Bill, Picking Up Key Senate Support

U.S. lawmakers have moved closer to enacting a countrywide ban on TikTok.

On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson issued a new proposal that would extend the sale requirement deadline to nine months, with a potential for a 90-day extension — addressing a key concern of Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, that the divestiture timeline was too short. The revised TikTok ban proposal is tied to a broader bill providing emergency aid for Ukraine and Israel; the House is expected to vote on the measure Saturday, and if it passes would move to the Senate. Prior attempts in the U.S. to ban the app — under former President Trump — failed on First Amendment grounds and because courts found legal challenges have presented only hypothetical national security risks rather than actual evidence TikTok has shared data with Chinese authorities.

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