The chair of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee said that lawmakers could extend to one year a proposed deadline to force TikTok’s parent company, China’s ByteDance, to divest the short video app used by 170 million Americans. The U.S. House of Representatives voted 352-65 on March 13 to give TikTok’s ByteDance, about six months to divest the U.S. assets of the short-video app, or face a ban. Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell said she likes the idea of extending the deadline to one year. “My guess is that would be a good component to guarantee success,” she told reporters. “We’re talking to our colleagues, people have questions.”
Quick Read
- The Senate Commerce Committee chair suggested extending the deadline for TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest its U.S. assets from six months to one year, aiming to ensure the process’s success.
- This proposal came after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to force ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations or face a potential ban, with the extended timeline pushing any ban well into 2025, past the presidential election.
- Senate discussions are ongoing, with plans to strengthen the bill and address legal concerns, considering previous unsuccessful attempts to ban TikTok.
- Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell supports the divestiture, highlighting national security concerns associated with TikTok’s operations in the U.S.
- TikTok has argued that a ban would infringe on the First Amendment rights of its 170 million American users, while also emphasizing its $1.5 billion investment in data security measures to protect U.S. user information.
The Associated Press has the story:
US Senator says TikTok divestiture deadline could be extended to one year
Newslooks- WASHINGTON, (AP)
The chair of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee said that lawmakers could extend to one year a proposed deadline to force TikTok’s parent company, China’s ByteDance, to divest the short video app used by 170 million Americans.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 352-65 on March 13 to give TikTok’s ByteDance, about six months to divest the U.S. assets of the short-video app, or face a ban.
Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell said she likes the idea of extending the deadline to one year. “My guess is that would be a good component to guarantee success,” she told reporters. “We’re talking to our colleagues, people have questions.”
Congressional aides had said that the idea of a one-year deadline has been discussed. The longer deadline would put any potential TikTok ban well into 2025 and beyond the November presidential election.
On Monday, Cantwell told reporters she will meet with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Intelligence Committee chair Mark Warner and “then we will have a game plan on how to proceed.”
On Wednesday, Cantwell said it was still “possible” the Senate could take up the House bill but she reiterated that senators want to make the bill stronger and put it on a better legal footing. She noted that attempts by former President Donald Trump’s administration and the state of Montana failed to ban TikTok.00:11Biden, Japan’s Kishida pledge united front versus China
This week, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell backed forcing a divestiture calling TikTok “America’s greatest strategic rival is threatening our security right here on U.S. soil in tens of millions of American homes.”
TikTok has become a major issue in Washington. Lawmakers have been flooded with calls from users who oppose the legislation.
“A ban on TikTok would violate the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans,” TikTok said on Friday.
Many lawmakers and President Joe Biden’s administration say TikTok poses national security risks because China could compel TikTok to share American user data, while TikTok insists it has never shared U.S. data and never would.
TikTok says it has spent more than $1.5 billion on the effort to protect U.S. data and house it in the U.S.
