Through the courts, TikTok, which is at risk of losing its 170 million American users, is preparing to find its… right. And that’s because the US – TikTok’s biggest market – has sent a message to the well-known application that it will ban its use on its territory if the Chinese parent company, ByteDance, refuses to sell it.

The US House of Representatives last Saturday passed a package of national security measures that includes a bill requiring ByteDance to divest from the app within a certain period of time or face banning it.

Michael Beckerman, TikTok’s head of public policy in the US, told the company’s employees that if the bill becomes law, then the company will take the legal route, taking the dispute to court.

In fact, in a note to the workers he emphasized that the specific bill is a clear violation of the First Amendment for its 170 million American users”, adding “We will continue to fight”, as reported by the FT.

The bill passed the House of Representatives, along with US funding to Ukraine and Israel, with the next step being a vote by the US Senate within the week, to then be signed by US President Joe Biden.

“This is only the beginning, not the end, of a long process,” Beckerman also told workers. The group has scheduled a special meeting with workers on Wednesday to discuss developments in the US.

Sources told the FT that ByteDance general counsel Erich Andersen, who heads the legal team and will oversee TikTok’s legal strategy, is likely to step down before the legal battle begins.

Andersen moved to ByteDance from Microsoft in 2020, meaning he will be able to take his full pay package after four years, a source with knowledge of the matter said. However, he told some employees that in the short term he would remain, as the company balances itself in view of the litigation.

It is noted that a number of TikTok executives in the US market have left after four years, including the company’s former chief operating officer, Vanessa Pappas.

Earlier, however, Bloomberg reported that TikTok was preparing to remove Andersen.

Ban attempt on Trump as well

However, this is not the first time that TikTok has been banned in the US. The then president, Donald Trump, had tried it in 2020, who before leaving the Oval Office had signed a presidential decree for its mandatory sale by the parent company. The courts, however, blocked the implementation of this decision.