House Passes Bill
On April 20, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a new bill worth $95 billion for foreign aid. This bill was bundled with a TikTok ban bill under the U.S. distinctive policy of legislative bundling, ultimately leading to its approval.
The bill mandates that TikTok must divest from ByteDance and operate as an independent company within nine months, or face a ban. Despite widespread online opposition to this bill, it failed to make a tangible impact, and the bill was approved.
The bill has now been submitted to the Senate, and if it passes there, it will be sent to the President for a decision. President Biden has already stated that if the bill passes both chambers, he will immediately sign it into law.
At this point, a ban on TikTok seems almost certain. Despite significant online opposition, Biden and both chambers of Congress have withstood the pressure and are moving the bill toward becoming law.
Trump Expresses Opposition
Trump, who is currently competing against Biden in the presidential race, has voiced his skepticism. He believes Biden's enthusiastic promotion of the TikTok ban serves personal interests rather than national interests, benefiting Biden's allies on Facebook while combating the Republican party.
This is not without precedent; following the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, Trump's Facebook account was banned, significantly impacting Trump, who is keen on voicing his opinions online. Although he later created a new social platform, Truth Social, it has not yet reached Facebook's level of user engagement.
Currently, TikTok is seen as Facebook's biggest competitor, so the ban on TikTok would undoubtedly benefit the Democratic Biden administration and Facebook's parent company, META.
Trump's Motivation
This Monday, Trump particularly mentioned the TikTok ban, reminding young voters—TikTok's main support base—to be aware of Biden's stance. This indicates that Trump's support for TikTok is not out of fairness but self-interest.
Trump is not a well-wisher for TikTok; as President in 2020, he sought to ban TikTok and WeChat citing national security, a move that was blocked by the courts, while Biden succeeded.
Thus, Trump's current stance of "supporting" TikTok appears to be driven more by self-interest than justice. Supporting TikTok could help him win young voters in the upcoming U.S. election, attack Biden by linking him with META's Facebook for personal gain, and provide a platform for voicing his opinions globally, circumventing previous bans.
