Senate passes bill banning TikTok if parent company does not sell it

Bill gives app owner, ByteDance, a year to divest, and while Biden is expected to sign it, the company plans to fight it

• Why is US threatening to ban TikTok and will other countries follow suit?

The Senate voted on Tuesday to pass a bill that will either ban TikTok or force a sale of the short-form video app, giving its China-based parent company ByteDance up to one year to divest its crown jewel before facing deletion from US app stores.

The vote was a landslide, with 79 senators voting in favor and 18 against. The bill passed in the House on Saturday by a margin of 360 to 58, as part of a foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. It will now make its way to the desk of Joe Biden, who has previously said he would sign the legislation.