ByteDance News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

On April 25, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that it had voted by a margin of 3-2 to restore net neutrality rules that were repealed in 2017 by the Trump administration. This means that internet service providers (ISPs) in the United States will be reclassified by the FCC as common carriers, in a move similar to how net neutrality was handled by the Obama administration in 2015.

Last week, GamesIndustry.biz presented a webinar with TikTok and the National Research Group on modern mobile gaming. And you can watch the whole thing back below.

TikTok creators can’t seem to escape a maelstrom of policy and security concerns lately. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden signed a $95 billion national security package into law. Nestled inside it was the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which gives TikTok parent company ByteDance 270 days to sell the platform or cease operations in the United States. Policymakers maintain that the bill is not a “ban,” but a way to get the China-based ByteDance to divest from TikTok. The battle over TikTok could play out in the courts for far longer than the roughly nine-month window before the deadline, but the uncertain future of the app has kicked up a fervor among its many creators, who depend on it for community, connection, and their livelihoods.

A in the is now a major possibility following both the House and the Senate voting in favor of a that would force its parent company, ByteDance, to divest or endure a partial ban.

President Joe Biden today signed into law a package of national security measures, including legislation that will force China-based ByteDance to sell TikTok or see the app banned in the US.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate passed an extensive, $95 billion national security package that sends financial aid to Taiwan, Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza. Tucked inside that bill is a piece of legislation the government’s been trying to pass for a while — a purported “TikTok ban.” Called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controller Applications Act, the bill won’t exactly ban TikTok; instead, the goal is to force TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the popular app. The legislation signed by President Joe Biden on Wednesday will give ByteDance nine months to sell TikTok. (Biden could extend the deadline by 90 days, too.)

Tencent has reportedly taken over two ByteDance games teams, and has consolidated them into a new company.

In a rare display of bipartisanship, the House of Representatives has overwhelmingly voted in favor of a bill that seeks to ban TikTok in the United States or force its sale to a non-Chinese entity. The newly advanced legislation poses another in a long list of hurdles for TikTok's stateside ambitions.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

The United States House of Representatives has passed the “TikTok bill” that would effectively ban the short-form video-sharing app if owner ByteDance doesn’t divest. Representatives voted on Wednesday on the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, pushing it forward with a majority vote of 352 to 65. The bill is expected to move onto the Senate for another vote if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) brings it to the floor. President Biden said he’d sign the bill should it reach his desk.

A bipartisan effort in the U.S. House of Representatives is pushing to pass a bill that could potentially lead to a ban of the social media app TikTok. The platform, which allows users to post and view short videos, launched back in 2016 and has significantly grown its base of fans since then. As TikTok has seen its popularity soar, however, it's also become the target of increased scrutiny from many.

U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Monday that TikTok was a national security threat but also said that a ban on the popular app would hurt some kids and only strengthen Meta Platforms' Facebook, which the Republican has harshly criticized.

TikTok once again finds itself in a precarious position. This time, it comes in the form of legislation that would ban the popular social media platform if it doesn't break ties with ByteDance, its Beijing-based parent company. On Thursday, a House panel unanimously approved a bipartisan bill that would require the Chinese firm to divest TikTok and other applications it owns within six months of the bill's enactment in order to avoid a nation-wide ban. The legislation also creates a process that lets the executive branch prohibit access to other apps that pose a threat to national security.

Elon Musk's social media platform X could face a raft of new European Union rules that place curbs on the behavior of some of the world's largest technology firms, after the company told regulators it may meet criteria to fall under the scope of the bloc's Digital Markets Act. 

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TikTok owner ByteDance is reportedly leaving the games industry following a restructure.

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