WASHINGTON.- The video platform Tik Tok faces a new challenge in the United States with the enactment of a law that requires it to cut ties with its Chinese owners or face an outright ban in the country.
Here’s what could happen next with one of the most downloaded apps in the world:
- The law in question: US President Joe Biden signed into law a law that gives TikTok a period of 270 days to find a non-Chinese buyer and thus continue operating in the United States. During this period, the app will remain available to its approximately 170 million American users.
- Legal challenges: TikTok plans to challenge the law in court, arguing that it violates the right to free speech. In the past, the company survived a similar order from former President Donald Trump, who attempted to ban the app in 2020.
- Possible buyers: Finding a buyer for TikTok will not be easy due to the large resources required. Large technology companies such as Meta or Google could be interested, although they would face scrutiny from competition regulators.
- Consequences of not finding a buyer: If TikTok fails to sell, it will no longer be available in the Apple and Android app stores in the United States, and will no longer receive updates and technical support.
- China’s stance: China has defended TikTok and opposes a Chinese company being forced to sell one of its most valuable assets. Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed this issue with Biden in a recent phone call.
- Potential beneficiaries: American companies Meta (owner of Instagram and Facebook) and Google could benefit from an eventual ban on TikTok, as they have launched their own similar alternatives that are gaining traction in the market.
In this context, the future of TikTok in the United States is at stake, with multiple factors at play, from legal challenges to geopolitical considerations. As the company struggles to find a solution that will allow it to maintain its presence in the US market, the outcome of this battle will have significant repercussions for both the technology industry and relations between the United States and China.
Criticism against Biden
The president, who has struggled to maintain support among young voters, now faces criticism from some of the most ardent users of the app, which researchers say is the primary source of news for a third of Americans. under 30 years old.
“There is a fundamental hypocrisy in the Biden administration supporting a TikTok ban while at the same time using TikTok for its campaign,” said Kahlil Greene, who has more than 650,000 followers and is known on TikTok as a “Gen Z Historian.”
“I think that makes it clear that he and his people know the power and how necessary TikTok is,” he added.
Biden’s campaign team has defended its use of the app and rejects the idea that White House policies run counter to its political strategies.
“It would be foolish to rule out any site where people get information about the president,” said Rob Flaherty, who ran the White House Office of Digital Strategy and now serves as managing director of Biden’s reelection campaign.
Flaherty said Biden’s team had built relationships with some influential accounts on TikTok for the 2020 election and that the platform has only gained more influence since then, “growing as an internet search engine and driving narratives about the president.”
Biden campaign and his use of TikTok
The Biden campaign says an increasingly fragmented modern media environment requires going after voters where they are, and TikTok is one of those places where potential voters see their content, in addition to platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
The campaign has produced its own TikTok content, but has also relied on ordinary users interacting with the president. That includes the post of a family who ate French fries and other food at a Cook Out fast-food chain restaurant during Biden’s recent visit to Raleigh, North Carolina, as well as the video posted by Coleman.
Opponents of TikTok point out that the Chinese company ByteDance, which owns the app, gives Beijing a dangerous amount of influence over the type of speech Americans see, as well as possible access to American consumers’ data. Chinese national security laws give the Communist Party wide leeway over private companies.
Source: With information from AFP
