Background
TikTok, the popular social media app known for its short-form videos, has been at the center of controversy due to its Chinese ownership. Chinese tech giant ByteDance, in 2017, purchased the popular karaoke app Musical.ly and relaunched the service as TikTok. Since then, the app has been under the microscope of national security officials in Washington fearing possible influence by the Chinese government.
Despite concerns in Washington, TikTok experienced significant growth. It has emerged as a trendsetter in the short-form video world, with approximately 170 million Americans using the platform—about half the country’s population. Additionally, one-third of young people relied on TikTok for news, according to Pew Research Center. The Biden administration and lawmakers contend that TikTok, being owned by a Chinese company, is subject to China’s authoritarian regime. They say Congress aims not to punish specific companies like ByteDance or TikTok but rather to prevent foreign adversaries from engaging in harmful activities that could affect Americans and U.S. government personnel.
In 20222, President Biden signed legislation blocking most federal government devices from using TikTok citing security concerns. Now, in 2024, Congress has approved a bill that gives TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, two options: either sell the app to an approved buyer or face a nationwide ban in the United States.
President Biden has signed this bill into law, but the road ahead remains uncertain.
Implications
- Legal Battle: ByteDance is likely to challenge the statute in court, which could delay the ban. According to the statute, ByteDance has nine months to divest and find an American buyer for TikTok. The president can extend this deadline by an additional 90 days. If ByteDance sues to block the implementation of the statute, the case will be taken up by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The ban would be effectively paused during judicial review. If the case reaches the U.S. Supreme Court, the ban might not take effect until 2026.
- Constitutional Challenge: TikTok will argue that the ban is unconstitutional and that it has taken steps to protect American users’ data. The app has launched an aggressive lobbying campaign, featuring small-business owners and influencers who rely on TikTok for their livelihoods. They aim to prevent the platform from being shut down.
- Finding a Buyer: The bill stipulates that TikTok can continue to operate in the U.S. if ByteDance sells the app to a U.S.-approved firm. While large U.S. tech companies would love to ac-quire TikTok, Biden administration regulators and critics of the Big Tech firms are cautious about expanding their power and influence.
In summary, the TikTok ban represents a complex legal battle with implications for free speech, national security, and the livelihoods of content creators. As the clock ticks, TikTok users and ByteDance face an uncertain future in the U.S. social media landscape.
Hello and good morning my people. The American government wants to break up this company because they can’t compete or out perform it. American workers aren’t outperforming Chinese workers rather America is telling other countries not to sell Chips or lithograph machines to china. There are many companies in America that’s owned by the CIA/NSA which pretends they are private companies but they aren’t. The only customer is the American pentagon so how can they be private when they are dependent upon the government. All china have to do is to take the American government to the WTO. Facebook collects all kind of information from people all over the world and they give it to the CIA . The phone companies gives the government mega data on all their customers so American complain about china but they should look into the mirror because they won’t like what reflects on them.
I don’t bat for China and will not do so for the foreseeable future. Having said that, I think China is forging ahead of the Americans in terms of technological advancement, and the Americans are paranoid about this. Therefore, they would say and do anything, even fabricate, to discredit and eviscerate China’s progress.
The Americans are a chauvinistic group of people. They think that their hegemony over the world should last forever. But the world is ‘wising’ up and their (America’s)once dominance and influence are rapidly declining.
Tik Tok can be a double edged sword. But it brings us news and events that the mainstream media would hide from us. Long live Til Tok.
All part of America’s war against China, as America and the west are losing their grip on a UNIPOLAR world, in which America could do what it wants, where it wants, how it wants and when it wants. A multi polar world led by China and Russia is staring America in the face, and its desperation will see it going to war with China very soon, using one of its proxies, either Taiwan or the Phillipines. So Tick Tock is not America’s only issue or main issue. DESPERATION IS NOW SETTING IN. It, (America), is presently trying to arm and weaponise Taiwan to its teeth to take on China, in the same way it did to Ukraine. The world is watching the provocation!! Just this week 9 Billion dollars in military aid was approved to Taiwan. The global south with 80% of the world’s population will be on China’s side in the same way they have supported Russia. Reasons why Russia, even during a war, has ousted Germany and is now the biggest economy in Europe.
NO EVIL EMPIRE RULES FOR EVER!!