On Apr. 24, 2024, United States (U.S.) President Joe Biden signed the TikTok sell-or-ban bill into law.

This means TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance has nine months to sell the social media platform, or face a nationwide ban of the app in the U.S..

This can be extended by 90 days, giving ByteDance one year in total to sell TikTok, if U.S. authorities are satisfied that a genuine effort to sell TikTok is ongoing.

Moments after Biden's signing, TikTok's chief executive officer Chew Shou Zi issued a statement on X, formerly Twitter, assuring the social media platform's U.S. users that the app was "not going anywhere".

Chew: "We will prevail."

While he and his team are disappointed that the bill has now in effect, Chew said that they will fight the ban in courts.

This echoed the message in an internal memo that TikTok’s head of public policy for the Americas, Michael Beckerman, issued on Apr. 20, when he vowed to fight the TikTok bill once it is signed.

The internal memo was leaked and made public by American technology industry–focused business publication The Information.

Chew said TikTok is confident that they will prevail as "the facts and the Constitution are on our side".

He called the U.S. government's decision to ban "ironic", saying "the freedom of expression on TikTok reflects the same American values that makes the U.S. a beacon of freedom".

"TikTok gives everyday Americans a powerful way to be seen and heard, and that's why so many people have made TikTok part of their daily lives," he said.

He reassured U.S. users that they can continue using the app while TikTok is "fighting for your rights in the courts".

Our CEO Shou Chew's response to the TikTok ban: pic.twitter.com/l0RAPJMobK

— TikTok Policy (@TikTokPolicy) April 24, 2024

Community note

Chew's post was tagged with a Community Note, a feature of X that allows other users to provide additional info or important context to a particular post.

The Note reads:

"The 21st Century Peace Through Strength Act provides 9 months for TikTok’s Beijing-based parent, ByteDance, to sell it _OR_ face a ban in the United States.

ByteDance is partly owned by the Chinese government and has an internal Chinese Communist Party (CCP) committee."

In Chew's message that lasted two minutes and 13 seconds, he did not mention that the bill does not ban TikTok outright, but instead gives ByteDance the opportunity to sell the app to a company not headquartered in a country considered a foreign adversary of the U.S.

This may give the impression that the bill would ban TikTok from the U.S. outright, instead of allowing it to remain available to U.S. users while under a new owner.

TikTok calls ban "an unconstitutional law"

TikTok also issued its own statement on X, reiterating Chew's words and calling the TikTok ban an unconstitutional law.

"We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and we will ultimately prevail."

"The fact is, we have invested billions of dollars to keep U.S. data safe and our platform free from outside influence and manipulation."

U.S. lawmakers have cited concerns about the data of U.S. TikTok users, numbering over 170 million, falling into the wrong hands, and the potential ability for influence operations to be conducted on the Chinese owned platform.

TikTok said in its statement: "As we continue to challenge this unconstitutional ban, we will continue investing and innovating to ensure TikTok remains a space where Americans of all walks of life can safely come to share their experiences, find joy, and be inspired."

Our Statement on Enactment of the TikTok Ban:

This unconstitutional law is a TikTok ban, and we will challenge it in court. We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and we will ultimately prevail. The fact is, we have invested billions of dollars to keep U.S.…

— TikTok Policy (@TikTokPolicy) April 24, 2024

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Top image from @TikTokPolicy/X, formerly Twitter