ByteDance would rather shut TikTok in the US than sell if legal challenge against ban law fails (report)
On Wednesday (April 24), Joe Biden Signed enacted a bill requiring TikTok's parent company – a technology giant headquartered in China ByteDance – divest its US app business or face a ban on the market, which has about 170 million users.
The law gives the company about nine months to find a buyer, but the chairman has the option to extend the deadline by three months if ByteDance can demonstrate that a sale is underway.
Reuters calculate that, after signing the bill into law, ByteDance has until January 19, 2025 to sell the app.
The development marks the latest attempt by lawmakers in the US to ban the app, following Trump administration executive orders issued in 2020 that were eventually rescinded. revoked Biden's in 2021.
in one videotapes posted to TikTok on Wednesday, the app's CEO, Shou Zi Chew, vowed to fight the “unconstitutional” law in court, echoing the position TikTok has taken since the law was born first presented in the House in March: the ultimate goal of the law is a complete ban of TikTok on the market.
“Make no mistake, this is a ban,” Chew said. “TikTok ban and ban on you and your voice.”
“Politicians may say otherwise, but make no mistake,” Chew added. Many sponsors of the bill acknowledge a ban on TikTok as the ultimate goal.”
Quoted source, Information reported on Thursday (April 25) that TikTok's parent company is “internally exploring scenarios” for selling the app's U.S. business Not available Its powerful recommendation algorithm.
TikTok’s algorithm is what creates “Your Feed” – which the company calls “a stream of videos curated to your interests.” According to TikTokit “is one of the defining features” of the platform.
As reported by Reuters this afternoon, ByteDance refuse Information of reported through a statement published on a media platform, Toutiao.
Late Thursday, Reuters reported that TikTok's parents “want” to shut down the app in the US if it cannot successfully challenge the law in court.
Citing his own sources, Reuters reported that the short-form video app's U.S. business “accounts for a small portion of ByteDance's total revenue and daily active users.”
They added that closing the U.S. company “will have limited impact” on the company's global business and furthermore, by closing the company rather than selling it to a based in the US, they “won't have to give up on its core algorithm”.
ReutersSources also said TikTok shares “the same core algorithms” with other ByteDance-owned apps, such as China-based TikTok sister app Douyin.
TikTok's algorithm and how it recommends content to TikTok users is one of the main concerns of lawmakers supporting the Protect Americans' Data from Foreign Adversaries Act (HR 7520) and the Protecting Americans from Applications Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act (HR 7521).
Some people have expressed concern that the Chinese government could use the app to manipulate public opinion, including in elections. Lawmakers are also concerned that Beijing could access the data of app users in the US.
on Tuesday (April 23) US Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chairwoman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Senator Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, presented what they said were “national security threats posed by ByteDance's ownership of TikTok, including how its algorithms it controls and manipulates the information that US users see.”
During his appearance before Congress last year, Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok, denied that TikTok shared US user data with the Chinese government and emphasized the company's plan to transfer US data to servers operated by the Chinese government. Prophecy in Texas.
In a statement posted by TikTok after Biden signed the bill into law: TikTok declared that the law was “unconstitutional” and vowed to challenge it in court.
“We believe that the facts and the law are clearly on our side and we will ultimately prevail,” TikTok said in its statement. “In fact, we have invested billions of dollars to keep U.S. data secure and our platform free from outside influence and manipulation.
“This ban will devastate 7 million businesses and silence 170 million Americans. As we continue to challenge this unconstitutional ban, we will continue to invest and innovate to ensure TikTok remains a space where Americans from all walks of life can come safely to share experience, find joy and be inspired.”
Last year, the state of Montana passed a law prohibit app stores from offering TikTok in the state. That law was challenged on free speech grounds by TikTok and a group of TikTok users blocked by a federal judge last December.Music business worldwide
