TikTok near US ban

TikTok near US ban? TikTok to be bought by US investors?

Key Points:

• Former TikTok Chief Executive Alex Zhu has been assigned the task of finding new companies in which to invest in parent company ByteDance.
• TikTok has suspended discussions with the British Government about moving their headquarters to London.
• Quick video sharing app TikTok banned in India. Strict action is being taken against this device also in America, so it can be banned soon. As this app’s user base is pretty much in India and America, its parent company ByteDance is uncertain about the future of this app.

ByteDance (Tiktok) is now thinking about selling a majority stake in the app to some of its U.S. investors, who would at some point take the company public, the news came the same day as the House of Representatives voted to ban TikTok on federal employees’ government-issued phones.

If American investors buy this app, then in terms of data policy this product will remain in the US. Since the US is still upset about this app’s privacy policies right now. Which is why it’s often called a National Security threat.

As the relationships between India and the United States of America and China have deteriorated over the past few years, if Byte Dance sells this app entirely to American investors, it might make a comeback not only in the US but also in India.

A British publication on Sunday said TikTok has halted talks with the British government about potentially moving its headquarters to London. The publication states that Bytedance had spent several months in negotiations with the UK Department for International Trade and with the office of Prime Minister Boris Johnson to create a large London base of 3,000 employees.

The app has grown in popularity in the United States and other western countries, becoming the first Chinese social media site to gain major traction among consumers outside their home country. It was downloaded 315 million times in the first three months of this year, more quarterly downloads than any other app in history, according to analytics company Sensor Tower.

Earlier this week, the House of Representatives voted to bar federal employees from accessing government-issued applications as part of a $741 billion ( roughly Rs. 55.32 lakh crores) protection bill. Lawmakers voted 336-71 in favor of the proposal put forward by Representative Ken Buck.
With the passage of the House and the ratification of the Senate Committee, the ban would soon become law in the United States.

Top officials in the Trump administration said they were considering a wider ban on TikTok and other Chinese-linked apps, and that action may be imminent.

For example, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently claimed that Americans should be vigilant when using the app.
Whatever happens, it adds to the burden on the social media giant. India recently banned TikTok and 59 other apps because of its ongoing dispute with China, and also cited security as a reason. The video-sharing service is already set to lose billions of dollars from India ‘s ban, and could only get worse if the US follows suit.