US TikTok executives are exploring the possibility of a split with Chinese parent company ByteDance, as lawmakers and regulators increasingly focus on the company’s ties to the Chinese government, according to Bloomberg, though that decision is far from certain and would require Beijing’s approval.
Highlights
- TikTok is under legal custody with the US as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US conducts a security review, which has yet to allay regulators’ concerns about ByteDance’s ties to the Communist Party. Chinese and US data security.
- A defection from ByteDance could result in a sale of the company or an initial public offering of the company, but Bloomberg reports that the move is still considered a last resort, citing sources familiar with the negotiations.
- TikTok and ByteDance did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Forbes.
main context
Talk of banning TikTok over concerns that the Chinese government would use the app to monitor Americans dates back to the Trump administration, but gained momentum last year after reports surfaced that China had accessed private information from American users and planned to use TikTok to spy on some Americans, including Forbes journalists. A wave of states soon banned TikTok on government devices, while in December President Joe Biden signed a bill banning TikTok on most federally owned devices. Sen. Mark Warner introduced a bipartisan bill earlier this month that would allow the Commerce Department to ban software made in countries that pose an “excessive or unacceptable risk” to the United States, including China. Warner claimed the bill wasn’t designed to specifically ban TikTok, but acknowledged that “everyone talks about work,” which he says is used by 100 million Americans for an average of 90 minutes a day.
contra
TikTok launched a $1.5 billion lobbying campaign, dubbed “Project Texas,” in response to concerns from regulators. According to Bloomberg, US technology company Oracle in particular has been asked to review its software.
Translated article from the American magazine Forbes – Author: Nicholas Rayman
<< اقرأ أيضًا: تستمر مخاطر العلامات التجارية على TikTok في النمو >>>
