TikTok will be banned in the U.S on September 15, 2020
Why Trump Banned TikTok?
Donald Trump promised to ‘immediately’ block TikTok in the country.
The date when TikTok will be blocked in the U.S. has become known. “I set a date of around Sept. 15, at which point it’s going to be out of business,” Donald Trump told White House reporters.
Recently, TikTok was under CFIUS review. Steve Mnuchin, U.S. Treasury Secretary, said that CFIUS would make a recommendation to Donald Trump about the popular Chinese-owned short-video sharing app.
The app which allows users to shoot themselves and share short videos with background music is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. The relationship has caused the Trump administration, as well as lawmakers across both aisles, to accuse the app of being a security threat. The discussion of the TikTok ban on the U.S. territory the government started amid a deterioration in relations with China.
CEO of TikTok and COO of ByteDance, Kevin Mayer stood up for the company and informed that TikTok had provided experts with access to its algorithms. A TikTok spokesperson commented on the situation to ABC News that the social network currently has around 100 million American users. Around 1000 Americans work in their U.S. team and the company is going to hire another 10,000 employees during the next three years. “TikTok U.S. user data is stored in the U.S., with strict controls on employee access. TikTok’s biggest investors came from the U.S. We are committed to protecting our users’ privacy and safety as we continue working to bring joy to families and meaningful careers to those who create on our platform.” — emphasized the press service of the social network.
Despite the decision of TikTok blocking, Trump doesn’t still mind if the company would be bought by Microsoft or another “secure” and “very American” company. Meantime, Microsoft is in talks to buy the Chinese social network, which has a massive footprint in the U.S. and beyond.
There is no outcome of the negotiations yet. In any case, they will complete them no later than September 15 of this year. The rumor has it that the complications have arisen because ByteDance wants more than $50 billion and insists on retaining a part of the company’s share in the enterprise.
It bears reminding that TikTok is the only significant external competitor for U.S.-based social networks like YouTube and Facebook.
