Will the US ban on TikTok become law? TikTok faces the biggest life-and-death dilemma in history

The U.S. House of Representatives once again passed a TikTok "ban order"

The ban on TikTok continues to ferment.

On April 23rd local time, the U.S. Senate voted to pass an amendment to a bill involving a package of foreign aid bills worth $95 billion, including more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine and $26 billion in aid to Israel. The bill also requires ByteDance to divest TikTok, otherwise the app will be banned from the U.S.

According to US media reports, the U.S. Senate ultimately passed the TikTok-related bill with 79 votes to 18. Next, the bill will be submitted to the president and wait for Biden's signature to take effect.

After the Senate passed the bill, US President Biden issued a statement on the evening of the 23rd, saying: "Once the bill is delivered to my desk tomorrow, I will sign it immediately and speak to the American people." This means that the bill is expected to become law soon.

TikTok said that the U.S. House of Representatives once again forced through a bill to ban TikTok under the guise of a bill involving foreign humanitarian aid. The bill will trample on the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, destroy 7 million businesses, and shut down a platform that contributes $24 billion to the U.S. economy each year.

Previously, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the TikTok-related bill with a high vote of 360-58 last week, extending the deadline for divesting TikTok from 165 days to 270 days and giving the president a 90-day extension power, which means that the maximum period for ByteDance to sell TikTok is extended to one year.

The re-passing of the "sell or ban" bill has undoubtedly put TikTok into crisis again.

How much did TikTok spend on lobbying?

So far this year, TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have spent a total of more than $7 million (about 50.72 million yuan) to try to prevent the U.S. Congress from passing legislation that could ban TikTok in the United States.

The latest public lobbying disclosure report shows that in the first three months of this year, ByteDance alone spent a record $2.68 million on TikTok's internal lobbyists to lobby Congress and federal officials. Data from U.S. advertising consulting firm AdImpact shows that TikTok has spent more than $4.5 million on TV and digital advertising campaigns this year to resist legislation that could lead to the app being banned.

A TikTok spokesperson responded: "These expenditures reflect the work we do to help policymakers understand how legislation affects our community of 170 million American users."

Since January 1, TikTok has spent more than $400,000 on outside lobbying firms in Washington. According to data from the nonprofit OpenSecrets, ByteDance's previous highest lobbying spending in the first quarter was in 2023, when it spent more than $1.8 million. In 2023, ByteDance and TikTok spent more than $8 million on lobbying.

The TikTok Divestiture Act is a Ban

When asked whether the "Divestiture Act" was a "TikTok ban," US Vice President Kamala Harris explained that it was only an adjustment to the ownership of the app for national security, not a ban. However, considering the complex political and business environment, as Zhou Shouzi said in the official TikTok video account after the House of Representatives passed the "Divestiture Act," the essence of the restriction order is to ban TikTok in the United States.

Earlier, U.S. Senate senators also stated during the debate that they hope TikTok will continue to operate in the United States under the new owner. However, one of the senators also admitted that the TikTok divestiture bill is actually a ban.

This may be the bandit logic of "you do well, I will take it for myself"! However, the bill that may ban TikTok will have a serious impact on the nearly 170 million TikTok users in the United States.

Tesla CEO Musk previously wrote that he believed TikTok should not be banned in the United States, although the ban might benefit its own X (Twitter) platform.

Musk bluntly stated that the introduction of the TikTok divestiture bill would go against the spirit of "freedom of speech and expression" represented by the United States.

(Photo source: X @Elon Musk)

The New York Times also published an article stating, "Whether love, hate, or fear, TikTok has changed America."

According to relevant reports, technology companies, platform companies and industry associations representing Microsoft, Apple and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and TikTok's main rival, are also opposing the hasty passage of the "divestiture" related bill.

Judging from the reactions of the American media and the public, most people do not actually support this bill.

As Musk said, this move by the United States is completely contrary to the "freedom of speech and expression" it has always advocated.

Beckman said the "sell or ban" bill violates the rights of TikTok's 170 million American users granted by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Not only that, it will also have devastating consequences for the 7 million small businesses on the platform.

As for TikTok, it still chose to fight to the end.

So far, this is the most serious survival crisis TikTok has faced. Faced with the dilemma of "either divestiture or ban", TikTok is likely to face restrictions on its development in the United States, or even be forced to withdraw from the US market.