Tik Tok likely safe from ban in US until after presidential election

Politicians seeking re-election won't be too eager to block app used by 70m Americans

- Bhagyashree Garekar

BALTIMORE, Maryland - A Bill forcing Chinese company Byte Dance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the United States will likely hang fire until after the Nov 5 presidential election.

After its quick passage with strong bipartisan support through the House of Representatives on March 13, the Bill is now up before the Senate.

As it resumes sitting on April 8 after its Easter break, the Senate may broaden the legislation to include other social media apps and harden its provisions to fend off legal challenges.

It may also hold a hearing to gather more perspectives on an issue that is dividing public opinion. The app is wildly popular and is used by nearly half the American population.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not said when he will put the Bill to a vote.

"Any Bill in the Senate will take more time," said Mr James Lewis, a former US diplomat who directs the Strategic Technologies Programme at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a non-partisan think-tank based in Washington.

"And in this case, senators have to work through a fundamental question: Do you want to deal with just Tik Tok or do you want to address the broader problem with social media?" he added.

The Senate is also likely to take time to ensure that the Bill will not meet the same fate as the 2020 attempt by the Trump administration to nix TikTok through an executive order which was struck down by US courts.

"People on the committee have also told me that they hope that the Bill fireproofs the administration when it has to go to court so that it won't be rejected out of hand," said Mr Lewis, referring to the Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Bill.

But there are also political reasons why the passage of the Bill will slow down.