ByteDance would prefer to shut down TikTok app in the US rather than sell
TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance in a statement clarified that it would prefer to shut down the app in the US rather than sell
“Foreign media reports that ByteDance is exploring the sale of TikTok are untrue,” the Beijing-based company said in a statement posted on Toutiao, a news aggregation app that it owns and is popular in mainland China.
“ByteDance doesn’t have any plan to sell TikTok,” it said.
The newly signed legislation gives ByteDance nine to 12 months to find a buyer or face a U.S. ban.
On 24 April, the US Senate passed legislation to ban TikTok, the popular social media app. Hours later, US President Biden signed the bill into law.
It requires TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to sell the app to non-Chinese owners or face a blanket ban in the US, the app which has more than 150 million users.
According to March 2024 data from TikTok, more than seven million small US businesses use TikTok, and the company reported it drove $15bn in revenue for these enterprises in the year 2023.
As reported the decision made by the US authorities now faces a complicated and uphill legal battle.
The decision has been made by US lawmakers alleging that TikTok can be used by the Chinese government for espionage and propaganda as long as it is owned by ByteDance.
On the other hand, experts weigh in that forcing ByteDance into a sale of its most prized asset will likely take years, face legal challenges, and may come too late for an app that is already used by over a billion people worldwide each month and is a key resource for young people and advertisers.
“I don’t think that any of this will happen quickly if it does occur,” said Aynne Kokas, an associate professor of media studies at the University of Virginia and the author of Trafficking Data: How China is Winning the Battle for Digital Sovereignty.
“I think this is an opening salvo to perhaps try to enhance the overall protections against the app.”
