After the President of the United States signed into law requiring ByteDance to sell the TikTok business in the United States, or else the app will be banned in the country, a spokesperson for ByteDance has recently denied reports that the company has started negotiating the sale of the business, stating that the company has no plans to sell TikTok as ordered.
Previously, Shou Zi, the CEO of TikTok, commented on the law, stating that it violates the principles of constitutional freedoms and that they will continue to fight in court.
Of particular interest is the report indicating that ByteDance has begun seeking buyers for TikTok. One thing ByteDance is not willing to sell, including the algorithm system of the platform. The potential sale reflects two perspectives: from ByteDance’s point of view, the algorithms are crucial to TikTok, while from another perspective, will TikTok without algorithms still be the TikTok Americans use?
According to Reuters, at least 4 sources have confirmed that if the legal battle is unsuccessful, ByteDance will shut down TikTok in America, with no plans to sell the business. TikTok has until January 2025 to sell the business, or extend until April if the President signs an extension, or it could take even longer as ByteDance continues the court battle and the court considers extending the deadline. Before that date, the United States will also hold presidential elections on November 5, 2024.
Source: Yahoo! News and Axios
TLDR: After the US President signed a law mandating ByteDance to sell TikTok in the US, ByteDance denied reports of negotiations for the sale, and the future of TikTok in the US remains uncertain.
Leave a Comment