- Content: 
ByteDance Clarifies It’s Not Selling TikTok
By Movieguide® Contributor
Tech news site The Information reported on Thursday that ByteDance is considering selling TikTok without its algorithm.
The Chinese tech company says this isn’t true.
“ByteDance said a report that it’s mulling the sale of a majority stake in TikTok‘s American business—after the U.S. adopted a law forcing it to divest its ownership position or face a ban of the app—is ‘untrue,'” Variety reported.
The Information claimed that ByteDance “is internally exploring scenarios for selling a majority stake in TikTok’s U.S. business, preferably to companies outside the tech industry, and without the algorithm that recommends videos to TikTok users.”
The Wall Street Journal found ByteDance’s response to the report on its news platform, Toutiao.
“If ByteDance were to entertain the idea of selling off TikTok, it would be a very expensive transaction. In the U.S. alone, the app generated $16 billion in revenue in 2023, valuing the business at up to $150 billion, per a Financial Times report,” Variety reported.
Last year, at a House committee hearing, TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, explained that TikTok would operate the same way whether ownership was divested or not.
“A change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access,” he said. “All global companies face common challenges that need to be addressed through safeguards and transparency.”
TikTok presently faces a potential ban from the U.S.
The NY Times shared why the U.S. government has concerns about the app: “ByteDance may put sensitive user data, like location information, into the hands of the Chinese government. They have pointed to laws that allow the Chinese government to secretly demand data from Chinese companies and citizens for intelligence-gathering operations.”
Movieguide® reported Wednesday:
TikTok has announced it will file a court challenge if Congress passes proposed legislation that will ban the app in the U.S.
“At the stage that the bill is signed [by President Joe Biden], we will move to the courts for a legal challenge,” Michael Beckerman, TikTok’s head of public policy for the Americas, told TikTok employees in a memo obtained by CNN. “This is the beginning, not the end of this long process.”
The earliest the app could become banned is Jan. 2025, per Variety.
- Content: +2Share:
- Content: +1