US TikToks future in jeopardy as Biden signs ban bill: Whats next? | Explainer News [Video]

The US Senate has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would ban TikTok unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, divests from the video-sharing app in nine months amid concerns that the company poses a national security threat.

TikTok has denied the Chinese government could access users’ data and has dubbed the bill, which was passed by a 79-18 vote, as unconstitutional. The bill was attached to a measure to provide a $95bn emergency aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

President Joe Biden has said he will sign it into law on Wednesday.

What do we know about the TikTok ban, and what happens next?

ByteDance bought the popular karaoke app Musical.ly and relaunched it as TikTok in 2017. It is one of the fastest-growing apps in the US, and has 150 monthly subscribers, more than half of them ages 18-34. In 2023, the platform boasted more than one billion monthly active …