President Joe Biden signed a foreign aid package that includes a bill that would ban TikTok if China-based parent company ByteDance fails to divest the app within a year. The divest-or-ban bill is now law, starting the clock for ByteDance to make its move. The company has an initial nine months to sort out a deal, though the president could extend that another three months if he sees progress.
TikTok will start labeling artificial intelligence-generated content uploaded from other platforms as part of a push to tackle misinformation, the company said Thursday. TikTok is partnering with the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), a project that supplies resources necessary to identify AI-generated content.
The social media company and its Chinese parent, ByteDance, sued to challenge the new law, saying it violated users’ First Amendment rights.
The TikTok legislation was included as part of a larger $95 billion package that provides foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel and was passed 79-18. It now goes to President Joe Biden, who said in a statement immediately after passage that he will sign it Wednesday. Pictured: A TikTok content creator, speaks to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, April 23, as Senators prepared to consider legislation that would force TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers. (Mariam Zuhaib/AP)
The fate of TikTok in the United States is even more uncertain as the House on Saturday voted on a package that requires that parent ByteDance divest its popular social media platform or face a ban on app stores. Lawmakers passed the bill 360-58, part of a series of votes to break a six-month standoff over a $95 billion aid package to Ukraine as well as to Israel and to Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific. The Senate is expected to take up the package of bills, including Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan aid, soon, perhaps as soon as April 23.
Exclusives
TikTok, which officially landed in the United States in 2018, was the most downloaded app in the country, and the world, in 2020, 2021 and 2022. It wasn’t that the elements of it were so new — compelling videos from randos had long been a staple of American pop culture — but TikTok put the pieces together in a new way.
A new measure attempts to force the Senate’s hand on passing legislation to ban TikTok or mandate the app’s sale.
Global digital rights advocates are watching to see if Congress acts, worried that other countries could follow suit with app bans of their own.
The video app is spending millions on ads as Congress considers a bill that could lead to a U.S. ban.
A new TV ad spot shows TikTok taking new steps to oppose a bill that if passed would force ByteDance, the app’s China-based owner, to sell to a company in the U.S. due to potential concerns over data privacy and national security. TikTok’s ad campaign, which cost $2.1 million, uses testimonials by a diverse range of supposed TikTok influencers and sellers to highlight the damage that could be done to Americans who rely on TikTok to make a living were banned in the U.S.
A privacy case against TikTok would add fuel to the bipartisan chorus of criticism directed at the company over its ties to China.
Some see the TikTok bill as the best chance for now to regulate the tech industry and set a precedent, if a narrow one focused on just one company. President Joe Biden has said he would sign the House bill, which overwhelmingly passed 362-65 this month after a rare 50-0 committee vote moving it to the floor. But it’s already running into roadblocks in the Senate, where there is little unanimity on the best approach to ensure that China doesn’t access private data from the app’s 170 million U.S. users or influence them through its algorithms. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Legal battle would force courts to weigh the government’s national security objectives against the First Amendment rights of TikTok and its users.
Dozens of popular figures on the app have traveled to Washington to urge lawmakers to oppose a bill that could result in the platform being blocked in the United States.
Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says he wants to pull together a group of investors to buy TikTok. Mnuchin, who also has connections to Hollywood, announced his plans on CNBC Thursday morning.
Even though legislation is moving forward, the video social media app isn’t disappearing from smartphones any time soon.
House passage of the bill is only the first step. The Senate would also need to pass the measure for it to become law, and lawmakers in that chamber indicated it would undergo a thorough review. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he’ll have to consult with relevant committee chairs to determine the bill’s path.
The House plans to vote on Wednesday on a bill that would force TikTok’s Chinese parent to sell the popular social media app.
Legislation that would force China-based ByteDance to divest TikTok or risk a ban in the U.S. is expected to clear a key committee this week, setting up a future House floor vote.
Katie Puris, who was the Global Head of Brand & Creative at TikTok, alleged in a lawsuit filed this week in a Manhattan federal court that she was fired in 2022 after making internal complaints about gender and age discrimination linked to what she called a preference among company executives for hiring young people.
Universal Music Group, one of the largest music companies in the world, said it failed to reach new deal terms with TikTok over issues including artist compensation and AI — and that TikTok tried to “bully” UMG into a deal worth less than its previous pact. As such, Universal Music said it will no longer license content to the app.
TikTok, the social media platform turned short-form video into a global sensation, is further encroaching on YouTube’s long-form video territory. On Tuesday, social-media consultant Matt Navarra shared a screenshot from TikTok that shows TikTok testing the option for users to upload 30-minute long videos to the app. “TikTok is coming for your long form YouTube videos,” Navarra posted on Threads after spotting the new uploading time in the beta version of the video-sharing app.
People and groups had harnessed the tool to scrutinize content on the site related to the Israel-Hamas war and other topics.
TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has been locked in a legal battle with Montana since the state passed the ban in April.
To help advertisers transfer the leads generated by their marketing campaigns to Salesforce in real-time, TikTok has launched a new no-code integration for Salesforce Marketing Cloud. Leads captured on TikTok will be synced to Salesforce Marketing Cloud in real-time, the company says, which will help eliminate the time and effort previously required by advertisers to manually download their leads.
TikTok is testing the ability for users to upload 15 minute videos, the company confirmed Monday. The social media giant said the new upload limit is being tested in select regions with a limited group of users, but declined to share specifics. The new option increases the video upload limit on the app from 10 minutes to 15 minutes. TikTok initially gained fame for being the most popular short-form video platform, but has slowly been embracing long-form content.
Montana is at the forefront of a wave of new tech laws passed by Republican-led states. Some give parents control over their children’s social media accounts.
TikTok is capitalizing on its growing use as a search tool, particularly by Gen Z consumers, by allowing brands to serve ads in its search results. The new feature in TikTok Ads Manager, called Search Ads Toggle, lets advertisers target users who are actively looking for more information on products or brands through TikTok searches. It is available now in the U.S., and testing in other markets.
New York City on Wednesday banned TikTok on government-owned devices, citing security concerns, joining a number of U.S. cities and states that have put such restrictions on the short video sharing app. TikTok, which is used by more than 150 million Americans and is owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, has faced growing calls from U.S. lawmakers for a nationwide ban over concerns about possible Chinese government influence.
The social media app known for its short-form videos will now allow users to create posts that contain only words, competing with Threads and Twitter.
The algorithm-driven viral video app overtakes YouTube and Instagram as the most used single source of news for young teenagers, according to the U.K.’s communications watchdog.
The former head of global communications for Walt Disney Co., Zenia Mucha, who also has experience in politics, will take over communications at social video platform TikTok.
The language-learning app now relies more on memes — helping it climb to 20 million daily active users.
In Q1 2023, TikTok became the first mobile app ever to surpass $1 billion in worldwide consumer spend across iOS and Google Play in a single quarter, according to apps analytics firm Data.ai. The “Honor of Kings” game came in second, at $570 million, followed by YouTube, with more than $530 million.
