WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that’s expected to face legal challenges and disrupt the lives of content creators who rely on the short-form video app for income.
The TikTok legislation was included as part of a larger $95 billion package that provides foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel and was passed 79-18. It now goes to President Joe Biden, who said in a statement immediately after passage that he will sign it Wednesday.
A decision made by House Republicans last week to attach the TikTok bill to the high-priority package helped expedite its passage in Congress and came after negotiations with the Senate, where an earlier version of the bill had stalled. That version had given TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, six months to divest its stakes in the platform. But it drew skepticism from some key lawmakers concerned it was too short of a window for a complex deal that could be worth tens of billions of dollars.
Red Sox 1B Triston Casas out indefinitely with broken rib suffered on hard swing at plate
Israeli airstrikes in S. Lebanon kill Hezbollah fighter, injure 2 civilians
Scientists say coral reefs around the world are experiencing mass bleaching in warming oceans
Boston Marathon: Wheelchair racers kick it off from Hopkinton
Alabama lawmakers OK bill blocking state incentives to companies that voluntarily recognize unions
Nina Dobrev and boyfriend Shaun White are loved
Season of flowers: Bullet trains bound for spring in Xizang
More Buddha statues found in northern Laos
Man sentenced to 6 years in prison for attacking police with pole at Capitol
Palestinian new gov't sworn in
Max Fried throws Atlanta's first 9
'Lanting' cultural salon in Auckland celebrates Chinese calligraphy, traditions