The bill's whirlwind House passage on Wednesday, and its backing from US President Joe Biden, had raised alarm bells that the app, used by 170 million in the United States, could be shut down within months.
But hopes from TikTok's foes that the Senate could also move quickly were dashed, with key senators saying they would put the proposed law through the usual legislative process, which can take months.
"These fields are evolving and changing so rapidly that you can do a lot of damage by moving too quickly or without the facts," Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, told the Washington Post on Friday.
Passing major legislation is especially difficult in an election year, and backers of the bill have bitterly predicted that the House's proposed law would die in the Senate.
"What we're likely to see happen in the Senate is people will nickel-and-dime it, a death by a thousand cuts," Republican Senator Josh Hawley told Axios.
"Nothing that Big Tech doesn't want moves across the Senate floor," he said.
Senate leaders who would be in charge of shepherding the proposed law through a complicated amendment process and bringing it to a vote have been noncommittal on the bill.
After the House vote, Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat who chairs the Commerce Committee, said that she would "try to find a path forward that is constitutional and protects civil liberties."
Republicans also expressed caution, and on Thursday former president Donald Trump reiterated his opposition to any ban of TikTok, asking his supporters to focus their anger on Facebook-owner Meta instead.
Trump's position, which was surprisingly ignored by Republicans in Wednesday's vote, is a reversal from his efforts as president to force TikTok away from ByteDance, its Chinese owner, efforts which were ultimately blocked by the courts.
Some Western governments have voiced concern about TikTok's soaring popularity, alleging that the app's ownership makes it subservient to Beijing -- and could be used as a conduit to spread propaganda -- claims TikTok and Beijing deny.
The White House has said Biden will sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
TikTok faces national security review in Canada: minister
Ottawa (AFP) Mar 15, 2024 -
Canada is conducting a national security review of Chinese-owned TikTok's proposed expansion of the popular video app in this country, Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Friday.
In a teleconference from Italy after meeting with his G7 counterparts, Champagne said the review under the Investment Canada Act had been quietly initiated in September 2023.
"We have launched a national security review (of TikTok)," he told reporters.
"Once we have completed that," he said, "we'll inform Canadians about any actions that we decide to take with respect to that particular topic."
"I'll have more to say when our review is completed," the minister added without saying when that would be.
Champagne noted a March 2023 announcement that foreign investments in Canada's interactive digital media sector would face "intense scrutiny."
Those found to be "propagating disinformation or manipulating information in a manner that is injurious to Canada's national security" could face mitigation measures or even a ban, according to the policy statement.
The Canadian review is not related to a proposed US bill that would force its Chinese owners to sell or see it banned in the United States.
That bill is partly fuelled by concerns over Chinese national security laws that compel organizations to assist with intelligence gathering.
TikTok is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd.
"We're watching, of course, the debate going on in the United States," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday after the US House of Representatives passed the bill, which still needs approval from the Senate.
Ottawa banned TikTok from federal government mobile devices in February 2023.
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