What next for TikTok in the US?

WASHINGTON, United States — TikTok on Wednesday said it will fight a new US law that orders the popular video sharing app to break away from its Chinese owners or face an outright ban in the United States.

Here is what could happen next for one of the world's most downloaded apps.

The bill signed by President Joe Biden gives TikTok 270 days (roughly nine months) to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban in the United states. The White House can extend the deadline one time only by 90 days.

During that time, the app would continue to operate for its roughly 170 million US users.

Tiktok says it will fight the law in the US courts, saying that it grossly violates free speech rights.

The company has some reason to feel that it will prevail; in 2020, the company survived a similar order from then President Donald Trump.

TikTok filed a lawsuit challenging the ban, and a federal judge temporarily blocked Trump's effort, saying the reasons for banning the app were likely overstated and that free speech rights were in jeopardy.

Still, the Trump administration tried to broker a deal in which data server firm Oracle and supermarket giant Walmart would buy a joint stake in TikTok, but those negotiations went nowhere.

The new effort signed by Biden was designed to overcome the same legal headaches and some experts believe the US Supreme Court could be open to allowing national security considerations to outweigh free speech protection, though this is hardly certain.

Trump, who is running for president against Biden, now says he opposes the potential ban as it would benefit rival Meta, the owner of Instagram and Facebook.

Finding a buyer for TikTok will be no easy matter given the deep pockets needed to walk home with one of the world's most popular apps.

Big tech's usual suspects, such as Meta or YouTube’s Google, will likely be barred from snapping up TikTok over antitrust concerns. They already command too much of the social media market.

Even Microsoft, owner of the more niche LinkedIn and now the world’s biggest company by market capitalization, would face a hard look by competition regulators.

Oracle could be interested in trying again to take part in a deal.

Since its