TikTok’s situation in the US has become the story of a Chinese app that is coming up against American government powers and this is something that is having some pretty long term impacts both geopolitically as well as in the world of the tech industry all in all. While the battle was initially between a Chinese company and the US government, it seems like now the Chinese government is stepping into the fray and in a situation like this it’s fair to say that TikTok has more or less been caught in a tug of war between two global superpowers both of whom want to be able to call the app theirs.
According to sources (via Reuters) that wished to remain anonymous, the Chinese government might just prefer to shut TikTok down rather than have it sold to American companies. This would be preferable to them because of the fact that TikTok being forced to sell its US properties to American companies would make China look weak, and this is the sort of thing that Beijing would most certainly not be alright with in any way, shape or form.
This doesn’t mean that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance wouldn’t be able to sell the company off, though. The deal might just go through if TikTok is sold without a few key algorithms that might just appease the Chinese commerce ministry. It will be interesting to see where things go from here since TikTok is something that neither side would want to let go of. This is a situation with a lot of moving parts and a lot of big name players, and it’s fair to say that it might just be the most exciting situation to have ever occurred in the world of tech especially thanks to its global implications.
Read next: Adam Mosseri (Instagram's Head) Speaks Out Against Banning Competitor TikTok
According to sources (via Reuters) that wished to remain anonymous, the Chinese government might just prefer to shut TikTok down rather than have it sold to American companies. This would be preferable to them because of the fact that TikTok being forced to sell its US properties to American companies would make China look weak, and this is the sort of thing that Beijing would most certainly not be alright with in any way, shape or form.
This doesn’t mean that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance wouldn’t be able to sell the company off, though. The deal might just go through if TikTok is sold without a few key algorithms that might just appease the Chinese commerce ministry. It will be interesting to see where things go from here since TikTok is something that neither side would want to let go of. This is a situation with a lot of moving parts and a lot of big name players, and it’s fair to say that it might just be the most exciting situation to have ever occurred in the world of tech especially thanks to its global implications.
Read next: Adam Mosseri (Instagram's Head) Speaks Out Against Banning Competitor TikTok
