WASHINGTON – With a ban on TikTok in the United States looming, Virginia Senator Mark Warner offered a statement on the possibility of users losing access to the social media service.
“Today, the Supreme Court heard arguments about whether the ownership of TikTok needs to change because of national security reasons. Many of you know my position on this issue. I think there is a lot of great creativity on TikTok, I also know people make their living as social influencers, I think that’s great. But I’ve been concerned, literally for years, that because TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese firm, and every company — based upon Chinese law — has to be first and foremost loyal to the Communist Party of China, not to their shareholders or customers, that TikTok has posed a national security concern.”
Senator Mark Warner
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On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments regarding TikTok divesting from its parent company ByteDance, which is based out of China. Lawmakers see it as a potential security risk to have user data in the hands of a Chinese company, and they fear the Communist Party of China may have access to the data of the 1 billion+ users on the app. with 150 million users in America alone.
“The overwhelming majority of Congress agrees with this, 80 percent, it’s tough to get 80 percent of the democrats and republicans in the House and Senate to agree on anything. But they agreed that this was a national security concern. This law would not require TikTok necessarily to be shut down, just to have that ownership share sold to a non-Chinese entity. It could be sold to an American company, it could be sold to a British, a French, a Brazilian company, but something that is not at the end of the day controlled by the Communist Party of China.”
Senator Mark Warner
Legislation signed in April of 2024 has required ByteDance to divest their ownership of TikTok before January 19 in the U.S., and although there have been many offers from buyers, ByteDance hasn’t accepted any as of yet.
“The irony is, of course, that former President Trump was the first person to bring this issue to the nation’s attention back in his first term. He has a slightly different view now, but the national security concerns still remain paramount. It appears, we’ll have to wait for the Supreme Court’s ruling, that this law will be upheld. At the end of the day, I hope that will force a transaction and that people can still enjoy TikTok, but that we can also get rid of this national security issue.”
Senator Mark Warner
While a ban on the app would certainly negatively impact ByteDance and TikTok’s presence, it’s not really the full-on “ban” that it seems to be. If a resolution in favor of TikTok isn’t reached by January 19, it will be removed from U.S. app stores and no longer receive updates. However, those who have the app on their phones already would still be able to access the service. Without consistent updates, the app would soon become unusable for U.S. citizens, but it wouldn’t be instant.
For more updates on the status of TikTok, stay up to date here on WSLS.com.