Senators Van Hollen, Markey, Booker, Call on Biden Administration to Extend TikTok Ban Deadline

Today, Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) urged President Joe Biden to trigger the 90-day extension in the Protection Americans' Data from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act to allow ByteDance additional time to divest from TikTok before facing a ban in the United States.

In the letter, the Senators write, "Over the past few days, it has become clear that, without action from you, TikTok will likely go dark on Sunday, with serious consequences for the 170 million Americans and 7 million businesses that rely on TikTok. A shutdown would be especially painful for creators in California who have been using the platform to share their stories and find resources during the tragic wildfires around Los Angeles. With Senate Republicans blocking legislation introduced this week to extend the TikTok divest-or-ban deadline and the Supreme Court, by all accounts, appearing unlikely to come to TikTok's aid, your administration represents the last chance to avoid a TikTok shutdown on Sunday."

The full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear President Biden,

We write to urge you to trigger the 90-day extension in the Protecting Americans' Data from Foreign Adversaries Act to allow ByteDance additional time to divest TikTok before facing a ban in the United States.1 Over the past few days, it has become clear that, without action from you, TikTok will likely go dark on Sunday, with serious consequences for the 170 million Americans and 7 million businesses that rely on TikTok.2 A shutdown would be especially painful for creators in California who have been using the platform to share their stories and find resources during the tragic wildfires around Los Angeles. With Senate Republicans blocking legislation introduced this week to extend the TikTok divest-or-ban deadline3 and the Supreme Court, by all accounts, appearing unlikely to come to TikTok's aid,4 your administration represents the last chance to avoid a TikTok shutdown on Sunday. We therefore urge you to act swiftly to trigger the 90-day extension.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this important issue.

Sincerely,