If you have not heard, a bill was signed Wednesday that will force TikTok's Chinese parent company to divest from its U.S. operations or face a nationwide ban. This move potentially sets up a protracted legal fight over the fate of the popular social media app, as Tik Tok has vowed not to go down without a fight.
Tik Tok is used by 170 million Americans and has been at the center of attention for some time due to its parent company, ByteDance. Tik Tok's critics have long argued the app could put U.S. customer data at risk because Chinese law requires China's companies to share information with the government. Tik Tok has maintained that it operates independently and protects U.S. data through an alliance with Oracle, which firewalls the data from overseas access.
There are a lot of conspiracies around why Tik Tok is being banned and for once I actually might think there is some truth to the theories. US social media are already selling our data. Social media sites are filled with fake accounts — planted there by data brokers so they can extract and resell information about what people are saying online. So why is Tik Tok being singled out? US based soical media site like Facebook and Instagram are struggling. Just look at Meta's stock price today!
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These legacy companies are falling out of favor with younger generations which are moving to Tik Tok. So if you can't beat them buy them. Well, ByteDance is not selling. So if you can't get them to sell make you government force their hand. I think this is exactly what is happening...
So while the new law won't make TikTok instantly disappear, it gives ByteDance up to a year to find an approved buyer for TikTok. Specifically, the law gives ByteDance nine months to arrange a sale, with the option that President Biden could extend the deadline by 90 days if sufficient progress toward a sale has been made. If it fails to do so, TikTok will be banned from U.S. app stores.
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