Banning TikTok has become a bipartisan issue, but it’s not easy.

Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images; Drew Angerer/Getty Images; Shayanne Gal/Business Insider

As the Biden administration pushes for a TikTok sale or ban, it’s clear the idea has bipartisan support. 
Lawmakers are pushing for a sale, so they avoid the backlash that comes with banning it.
Experts say an ideal outcome would be a better framework for Chinese owned apps operating in the US. 

Former US President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden agree on at least one thing: Something has to be done about TikTok.

TikTok’s future in the US is once again under question. The Biden administration is demanding that TikTok divest its American business from Bytedance, the Chinese company which owns it, in order to address what it sees as a  potential risk to national security. 

We’ve been here before, when the Trump administration pushed TikTok to sell its US operations in much the same way. At that time, Oracle and Walmart put together a successful bid for TikTok’s US business, but the deal fell apart as Trump left office. 

While the Biden administration’s approach to TikTok has been slightly different, it’s clear that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle support a TikTok ban. And political power is aligning to make something happen, and soon.

There is a bill going through Congress right now, introduced by Democratic Senator Mark Warner, that would allow the federal government to regulate and ban foreign-produced technology, including TikTok. It’s called the RESTRICT Act, and would essentially give the secretary of commerce power to regulate tech produced by six countries that have adversarial relationships with the US: China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela.

However, the Biden administration is hesitant to back a ban without first trying other options for the same overarching …read more

Source:: Businessinsider