WASHINGTON — Hidden inside the sweeping $95 billion national security package heading to President Joe Biden’s desk is a provision that could ban TikTok, with one major catch: It won’t happen before the 2024 election.
This means that TikTok, which has 170 million American users, will continue to be a force throughout the campaign, providing a platform for candidates to reach predominantly younger voters. An earlier version of the bill could have banned the popular video-sharing app before the election, but recent changes mean Congress and Biden may not face such an immediate backlash from voters.
The new legislation provides nine months for TikTok’s parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance, to sell it or face a nationwide ban in the United States. The president can grant a single extension of 90 days, increasing the sale period to one year, if he makes sure that there is a path for divestment and “significant progress” in its execution.
Even without the extension, the first period of ban could begin in January 2025. With the extension, it would be in April. And with TikTok threatening legal action, the matter could be tied up in the courts for even longer. It’s a change from a previous House-passed bill that included a six-month window that could have triggered a ban on TikTok before the November election.
A top Republican aide said Democrats were responsible for the change. “Senate Democrats have been pretty consistent in wanting to extend that deadline,” the aide said.
The election was “definitely” something “conveniently addressed” within the new deadline, said a Democratic source close to the matter.
Other Democrats are assuring voters that ByteDance would rather sell TikTok than risk a U.S. ban, in the opinion of some experts disagree.
“TikTok is not going to disappear. There is no more capitalist entity than an organization controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. They’re going to sell it,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., a member of the Armed Services Committee who faces re-election this fall. “Young people will join TikTok tomorrow and they will still have it. And then the next day, they’ll still have it. And the next day, they’ll still have it,” Kaine said, adding that the only difference is that it will be American-owned. “If you like it, you’ll keep it.”
In endorsing the revised TikTok bill, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said that extending ByteDance’s divestment period — what she called a “recommendation” — would help ensure that there is “enough time for a new buyer to get a deal done.”
Other lawmakers who helped negotiate that change, including Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., agreed that the reason they pushed back the deadline was to increase the chances of a sale.
“This gives more time to make divestment viable,” said Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat on the special committee investigating the CCP. “It made a lot of sense. That’s why, as you noticed, we didn’t lose any votes because of the change. In fact, we gained some votes — we went from 352 to 360 votes in the Chamber.”
Trump, who tried his own ban, tells ‘young people’ to blame Biden
Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, sought to politically exploit the ban.
“Just so everyone knows, especially young people, Crooked Joe Biden is responsible for banning TikTok,” Trump he said on the social networks. “He is the one pushing for closure… Young people, and many others, should remember this on November 5th, ELECTION DAY, when they vote!”
It’s a turnaround for the former president, who signed an agreement executive order in August 2020 to ban TikTok within 45 days if it was not sold. His statement cited “the threat posed” by China with its ability, under Chinese law, to force the app to grant access to Americans’ data and its potential to manipulate the algorithm to promote Chinese propaganda – the same reasons why Congress and Biden favor a ban.
But the executive order was blocked in court and the application persisted.
“I have every expectation that TikTok will be alive and well no matter who is president,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “Donald Trump is obviously trying to turn this into an election issue, but considering he was in favor of banning it, I think his warning is more nonsense to use a polite word.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said views on TikTok and social media will not “rival choice, democracy and immigration as a voting issue” in the 2024 election.
But Murphy said the political implications go both ways.
“I’m part of a group of angry parents who feel like they’ve lost control of their children’s lives. There is definitely another group of kids who are worried about losing access to social media in the way they have it now,” Murphy said. “But these are two very different voter groups and if you ignore the dangers of social media, you might get some younger voters but lose some parents. So this is one of those issues where you need to see the whole picture.”
Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., who voted against the TikTok ban over the weekend, told NBC News in an interview that there is a need to address national security and data concerns associated with the platform, but added that banning TikTok would be disastrous for creators, organizers and activists.
“I think it’s a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, where we have people, communities that can organize themselves, that can come together, that can find space for their businesses to grow” on TikTok, she said. “We really need to think about what the consequences of this are, not just the political consequences, but the consequences holistically.”
‘The battle lines are not very clear’
A Republican working on Senate races said being tough on TikTok would have been an easier message to convey on the campaign trail, before Trump himself spoke out against the ban.
“It used to be a lot more direct,” this person said about how they could message Democrats who use TikTok to campaign — which, despite Biden’s intention to sign the ban legislation, includes his campaign. “But Trump is on the other side now. This makes everything a little more obscure. The battle lines are not very clear.”
Still, the Republican believes a looming ban could have a big impact on the campaign of Democrats who use TikTok, saying candidates are using it exclusively as a tool to reach voters.
“It’s very clear that they think it’s an important tool in their toolbox,” this person said.
In frontline Senate states, Democratic Senators Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania are active on the platform. So do Democratic Reps. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Colin Allred of Texas, both running for Senate seats in competitive races this fall. Gallego and Allred voted in favor of banning TikTok in the House.
Brown’s campaign declined to comment. Casey’s campaign said it could not comment before the Senate vote. The Gallego and Allred campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Biden’s campaign has only said that the campaign is on TikTok, but that the president does not have an official account on the platform.
Some of Biden’s allies disagree with him on banning TikTok.
Progressive Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a Biden campaign surrogate, said he opposes the TikTok ban, citing free speech rights.
“The longer term marginally helps push the ban until after the election and the bill, in any case, will likely be rejected by the courts,” he said. “But the rush to pass it shows the complete disconnect between the Beltway establishment and many Americans.”
Khanna’s advice for election candidates facing voter backlash to the TikTok ban?
“I would tell them to follow their heart, but take their brain with them,” he said.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
