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Senate Passes TikTok Ban Bill, Setting Up Legal Battle Between App and U.S. on First Amendment Issues

The Senate approved a bill that would ban TikTok unless Chinese parent ByteDance sells its stake in the app, setting the table for a court fight.

The legislation is a “clear violation” of the First Amendment, the exec wrote: “This is the beginning, not the end of this long process.” Beckerman also criticized the TikTok divest-or-ban measure as “an unprecedented deal worked out between the Republican Speaker [Mike Johnson] and President Biden.” Regular Americans aren’t privy to classified briefings members of Congress have received about TikTok from intelligence services and the risks it poses as an entity “operating at the direction of a foreign adversary,” Warner said. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, suggested TikTok and ByteDance are “weaponizing” data and AI to spy on American citizens, the military and government personnel, including journalists covering the company.

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