Brace yourselves, Tik Tok may be getting banned in U.S.A. for real this time while talks of Microsoft buying the company’s U.S. segment is also afoot.
By Miette Dsouza
Donald Trump made a statement on 31 July 2020 saying that he wanted to ban the Chinese short video app, Tik Tok and that the government was “looking for alternatives”.
The app had already been banned in countries such as India and Hong Kong for political reasons. However, the reason for the ban in USA is because of the app posing a threat to National and cyber Security.
Contradictory to what was said by President Trump, Tik Tok’s U.S. General Manager Vanessa Pappas appeared in a video on the official Tik Tok account saying: “We're not planning on going anywhere”.
Not long after, it was reported that Trump would give Tik Tok a chance to sell their company to U.S. investors till 15 September 2020. Talks between U.S. Investors and Tik Tok’s parent company ByteDance have begun and Microsoft had confirmed that negotiations are ongoing.
President Trump is also said to be expecting a certain sum of money from the sale to be deposited in the U.S. Treasury and Microsoft confirmed it too.
Microsoft said: “Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President’s concerns. It is committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury.”
They also added that if they acquired the app, they would ensure that it has “world-class security, privacy, and digital safety protections”.
While the news of Microsoft potentially purchasing Tik Tok raised eyebrows, a few influencers from the Tik Tok community were preparing to say goodbye and started moving onto different social media apps like Triller and YouTube.
Major brands like American Eagle, Hollister etc. use Tik Tok to scout talent so when news broke out about the potential ban of Tik Tok, other influencers were uncertain about their future and took to Tik Tok lives to express their concern.
Do you think Microsoft can buy Tik Tok before it gets banned?