With the criticism TikTok has been facing in the US, TikTok’s days in US app stores could be numbered. After a week of threats, Trump is forcing the issue. He has given the company a little more than half a month t make things official with Microsoft or Other American buyers who are interested in the app. If they fail to do so, he says TikTok will have to shut down in the US. And, any deal should ensure that “the Treasury of the United States gets a lot of money,” according to Trump.
Government revenue aside, Trump’s fixation on TikTok may seem strange, especially at a time when the United States is amid a deadly pandemic that has Killed thousands and cratered the economy. But TikTok’s days as a non-American app have been numbered for a while. It’s not just Trump’s idea. Even before his recent announcements, suspicion of TikTok has been a rare source of bipartisan.
The exact nature of those suspicions has been gloomy, though. Statistics point out that, since parent company ByteDance is based in China, TikTok could be forced to hand over information to the Chinese government.
TikTok stood up against these allegations. The company says it has an American CEO and says it doesn’t take orders from China. It even employed professional advocates to bolster these claims and convince officials TikTok isn’t really political.
“In meetings with lawmakers, lobbyists insist that the app is mainly for entertainment and is not the type of content that is normally targeted for government surveillance,” the NYT reports.
Officials have so far been unconvinced, and maybe rightfully so. While TikTok is known as a source of entertainment, the app has become more political, too. As TikTok’s popularity continues to increase in the US, it has 100 million US users.
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