Biden signs TikTok bill into law as Chinese firm threatens legal action

TikTok could be banned in the US from 2025

As expected following the Senate's passing of the combination bill regarding funding for Ukraine and the potential ban of TikTok, President Biden has now signed the measure into law. From today, ByteDance has nine months in which to sell or divest itself of TikTok, although there may be a further three-month extension if a deal is being negotiated.

"The path to my desk was a difficult path," President Biden said in a statement seen by CNBC. "It should have been easier and it should've gotten there sooner."

"But in the end we did what America always does," he continued, "we rose to the moment."

In response to Biden's signing, ByteDance issued a statement say that "this unconstitutional law is a TikTok ban." The company said that it would challenge the law in court.

"This ban would devastate 7 million businesses and silence 170 million Americans," it continued.

The issue for the US government is that TikTok is owned by ByteDance, which is a Chinese company. Senators have cautioned that as such, ByteDance could provide US users' private data to China's government.

ByteDance has denied this. CEO Shou Zi Chew has responded on social media what he says is unmistakably a plan to ban TikTok in the US.

"It's obviously a disappointing moment, but it does not need to be a defining one," he says in the video. "This is actually ironic, because the freedom of expression on TikTok reflects the same American values that make the United States a beacon of freedom.

Former President Trump has been arguing against banning TikTok. However, he was previously the instigator of the plan to force ByteDance to sell or divest.