Is TikTok’s future in America uncertain?
The influencers are expressing their concerns. On March 13th, the House of Representatives in America passed a bill that would prevent app stores and internet providers from distributing “foreign-adversary-controlled applications”. The main target is TikTok, a popular short-video app that has 170 million American users spending an average of 56 minutes a day on it.
TikTok’s presence in America has always been uncertain due to its Chinese ownership. Despite being based in Los Angeles and Singapore, it is a subsidiary of ByteDance, a Chinese tech company. This has raised concerns among both Democrats and Republicans that the Chinese government could potentially use TikTok for spying on American citizens or influencing public opinion. TikTok has denied these allegations and has taken steps to address concerns by involving Oracle, an American software giant, to protect the data of American users and review its source code. The company also highlights that American investors, such as Carlyle and General Atlantic, are among ByteDance’s major shareholders.
If the bill becomes law, ByteDance will be required to either sell TikTok’s American operations within six months or shut them down. The pressure for such action has been mounting since TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, appeared before Congress last March. The company, however, was taken by surprise at the speed with which the usually slow-moving American lawmakers have acted.
2024-03-13 14:30:27
Article from www.economist.com
