© Office of President Joe Biden, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Very popular in the United States, where it has more than 170 million users, the social network TikTok is once again threatened with banning, unless its Chinese owner, Bytedance, separates from it . As a reminder, the House of Representatives had already voted on a text to force Bytedance to sell the social network in March.
However, this first text dragged on at the Senate level, which had more reservations. The solution found by the House of Representatives consisted of including these measures against TikTok in a foreign aid package (including aid for Ukraine). And this time, adoption by the Senate was very quick.
The Senate finally approves
The new bill, which includes both foreign aid, as well as measures against TikTok, was voted by the House of Representatives on Saturday. And this obtained the green light from the Senate on April 24 (79 senators for and 18 against). Concerning the measurements, some modifications have been made, according to explanations from The Verge. The text still threatens TikTok with banning, unless Bytedance resells it, to ensure that TikTok cannot be controlled by the Chinese government. However, this new text gives Bytedance a longer time to find a buyer.
“Congress is not acting to punish ByteDance, TikTok or any other individual company”, said Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman, Democrat Maria Cantwell, before the vote, according to The Verge. “Congress is acting to prevent foreign adversaries from conducting espionage, surveillance, and smear operations that harm vulnerable Americans, our military, and government personnel. ”
The White House will sign quickly
By integrating these measures against TikTok into the foreign aid law, representatives are not only ensuring rapid adoption by the Senate, they are also ensuring acceleration at the White House level. . After the senators' vote, US President Joe Biden issued a press release announcing that he will sign the bill as soon as it reaches his desk, so that aid can quickly arrive in Ukraine.
“The need is urgent: for Ukraine, faced with incessant bombing from Russia; for Israel, which has just faced unprecedented Iranian attacks; for refugees and people affected by conflicts and natural disasters around the world, including Gaza, Sudan and Haiti; and for our partners seeking security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region”, we can read in this press release which makes no mention of TikTok.
Who could buy TikTok ?
According to rumors, TikTok could still attempt action before the American courts, against this text. “It is regrettable that the House of Representatives is using the guise of significant foreign and humanitarian aid to once again pass a ban bill that would violate the freedom rights of 8217;expression of 170 million Americans, would devastate 7 million businesses and shut down a platform that contributes $24 billion to the American economy each year”, also wrote the social network on April 18.
But, if Bytedance decides to sell TikTok to avoid banning the social network in the United States, a few names are already circulating in the American media. According to a rumor that circulated in March, Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision, had already discussed with potential investors about a possible takeover of TikTok. Steve Mnuchin, former US Treasury Secretary, declared on television that he plans to form a group to buy the social network. Similarly, investor Kevin O’Leary has also expressed interest in TikTok. In any case, buying TikTok, even if it only concerned the American activity of the social network, would require very significant resources. For example, according to an article in the Financial Times, TikTok US could be worth up to $150 billion.
Otherwise, we remind you that during this time, TikTok is also being targeted by two investigations by the European Commission, in the EU.
- In the United States, the Senate passes a bill that includes a measure threatening TikTok with banning unless the company Bytedance separates from it
- President Joe Biden has already declared that he will sign this text (which also includes aid for Ukraine) very quickly
- If Bytedance sells TikTok, some names of potential buyers are already circulating in the American press
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