Oliver Johnson
washington – Senator Maria Cantwell, a prominent senator who has championed legislation regulating TikTok, has endorsed the House’s latest version of a measure that could lead to a ban on the social media app in the US
Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, announced her support Wednesday for an updated measure that would force TikTok’s Chinese parent company to divest itself of the widely popular short-video platform within a year.
The legislation is included in House Speaker Mike Johnson’s bill four-part foreign aid plan, which also involves wartime assistance to Ukraine and Israel. The updated version extends to nine months the six-month period that ByteDance would have to sell its stake in the company or lose access to app stores and web hosting services in the US, with the possibility of a three-month extension.
Cantwell, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, opposed the original version of the Protecting Americans from Controlled Applications of Foreign Adversaries Act, which sailed around the house in March with bipartisan support, but faced headwinds in the Senate, which moved more slowly about a range of concerns. Modifying the divestment deadline alleviated at least one of these issues.
“I am delighted that President Johnson and House leaders incorporated my recommendation to extend the ByteDance divestment period from six months to one year,” Cantwell said in a statement. “As I said, extending the divestment period is necessary to ensure there is sufficient time for a new buyer to close a deal. I support updated legislation.”
A spokesperson for Cantwell did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the senator’s other concerns were addressed in the updated bill, including whether it could survive legal scrutiny.
Cantwell told reporters Thursday afternoon that he did not believe any other changes would be made to the legislation, but that there could be more in the future.
“We could look into things in the future, but for now we support what they are doing,” she said.
Cantwell’s support clears a hurdle that other TikTok-related measures have failed to overcome. But some lawmakers have questioned the constitutionality of the bill, making it likely that other questions could arise.
The updated bill included in the plan unveiled by Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, earlier this week combines forced divestment from TikTok with new sanctions on Iran, China and Russia. The remaining three bills would provide $26 billion to support Israel, $61 billion to bolster Ukraine, and $8 billion to combat China in the Indo-Pacific.
Alan He contributed reporting.
