Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday called for a looming TikTok ban to be delayed to give the social media company more time to find an American buyer.
“We aren’t against TikTok. We want TikTok to keep going. But we are against a Chinese company that is in cahoots with the Chinese Communist Party owning TikTok,” Schumer said during floor remarks Thursday.
“Unfortunately, TikTok as it exists today has too many security risks that cannot be ignored. The law passed last year was intended to sever TikTok from the influence of the CCP while keeping the app available for Americans,” he added. “It’s clear that more time is needed to find an American buyer and not disrupt the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans, of so many influencers who have built up a good network of followers.”
The ban law, which passed Congress with wide bipartisan majorities and was signed by President Biden last April, gave TikTok until Jan. 19 to either divest from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, or face a ban in the U.S. due to national security concerns about its links to China.
Schumer slammed Senate Republicans for blocking a new effort by Senate Democrats to pass a bill to extend the ban deadline, calling the move “stunning.”
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) introduced a bill Wednesday that would extend the ban deadline by another 270 days, arguing TikTok has built online communities that “cannot be replicated” on another platform.
Markey offered the measure by unanimous consent in the upper chamber, but it was quickly blocked by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who argued TikTok was given “plenty of time” to find a buyer and divest from ByteDance.
“What’s more, ByteDance and TikTok had plenty of additional warning for years about the possibility of such action, long before Congress set this firm Sunday deadline,” he said on the Senate floor Wednesday night.
The ban hinges on a decision from the Supreme Court, which took up TikTok’s challenge to the divest-or-ban law on an expedited timeline. The high court signaled sympathy with the government’s national security concerns, but has yet to issue an opinion on the matter.
Schumer on Thursday pledged to keep working to find a solution and said he will work with the incoming Trump administration and both parties to “keep TikTok alive while protecting our national security.”
