Breaking Down TikTok’s Roller Coaster Ride in US
As the ban date drew near, the well-known app which has over 170 million users in the US went down for a short while last month.
What is TikTok ?
TikTok is a social networking site where users can make, share, and find short videos. People use the app to express themselves through lip-syncing, dancing, singing, and comedy. Users may also make films and share them with others in the community. The minimum age to use TikTok is thirteen years old.
Is TikTok back ?
Following President Donald Trump’s decision to delay the implementation of a ban on the Chinese-owned social media platform until April 5, TikTok is once again accessible through the US app stores of Google and Apple.
As the ban date drew near, the well-known app which has over 170 million users in the US went down for a short while last month.
Just before midnight on January 18, the platform went dark and sent users a message informing them that the app was blocked. After almost twelve hours, service was restored as Trump had signed an executive order granting TikTok a 75-day extension to comply with a law banning the app if it is not sold.
Why was TikTok banned ?
A bill voted by the House of Representatives would require TikTok to be acquired by a nation that is not an enemy of the United States and may ban the social media platform in the country if its parent company, ByteDance, does not divest from it.
Supporters of such a move frequently cite a ban on Huawei, another Chinese tech company, as a successful way to curtail China’s influence. They also raise security worries about the app’s potential to be used to leak American data to China for monitoring. TikTok is classified as a Foreign Adversary Controlled Application under the law.
ByteDance had nine months to sell off TikTok and find new owners for the social media platform in accordance with the stipulations of the bill that Biden signed. The new owners must reside in the United States or one of its allies.
Is the TikTok ban cancelled ?
No, the ban has not been cancelled, it has only been delayed by 75 days as of now. Due to the ban’s postponement, Apple and Google were able to reintroduce TikTok without incurring fines for maintaining or distributing the software.
To whom would TikTok be sold?
Given TikTok’s valuation of well over $100 billion, it is unclear who would purchase the app if ByteDance were to sell it. Potential purchases would therefore be restricted to the wealthiest people on the planet, such as a group of investors or tech behemoths.
It has been claimed or publicly stated that a number of people are interested in organizing a group to buy TikTok from ByteDance. Some of the big names that have been associated with the purchase of TikTok are Microsoft, Oracle, Perplexity AI, Elon Musk, Mr. Beast, Kevin O’Leary, Amazon, Rumble, Bobby Kotick. President Donald Trump said late Monday he hoped there would be a “bidding war” for TikTok and with these multi-millionaires companies and people eyeing TikTok would be an interesting watch as to who finally manages to acquire the US operations of TikTok.