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It’s a saga full of twists and turns. Threatened with a ban in the United States, TikTok is still alive for the time being, despite disappearing for a few hours on January 19. This is an opportunity for us to revisit this sprawling affair in four questions.
Under a law passed in 2024, TikTok was required to sell its American branch by January 19, 2025, or face a blockade on the national territory. This is what happened before a temporary rescue by the new president Donald Trump.
Why such treatment ? US authorities have expressed national security concerns, fearing that the Chinese government could access American users’ data and influence the content distributed on the platform. However, no public evidence has been released on this subject, although some lawmakers have been able to access confidential data.
It was one of the Republican’s first decisions following his return to the White House. He signed an executive order that allows TikTok to remain accessible in the United States for 75 days.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000According to the published text, this period should allow the new administration to “determine an orderly course of action to protect national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans.”. TikTok is used by 170 million people in the United States and is the livelihood of many influencers.
ByteDance is not giving in and has challenged the law in court and all the way to the Supreme Court. The company says there is no evidence that the Chinese government manipulated the platform or accessed user data.
TikTok’s legal team argues that the Chinese government did not consider less restrictive measures before proposing a total ban. The social network and its supporters believe that this ban violates the freedom of expression guaranteed by the First Amendment of the American Constitution. The service has so far refused to consider a resale of its American branch.
This is the last big question that arises. Donald Trump has mentioned the idea of the social network becoming a 50% American company. The question remains who will open the checkbook. Several potential candidates are interested, including Frank McCourt, the owner of OM, but also Perplexity AI.
Elon Musk has already been mentioned as a possible buyer, as has Oracle, whose CEO is a long-time supporter of the American president. The company could intervene in this matter in partnership with Microsoft.
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