The Clock Is Ticking On Tiktok
Date
11/11/2024 7:06:27 PM
(MENAFN- Asia Times)
Last April, congress passed, and President Joe Biden signed an extraordinary law that could end up banning, in the United States at least, a product 170 million Americans use - TikTok.
The law gives the Chinese-owned social-media company until next January 19 to sell to a non-Chinese owner or cease operations. TikTok says a sale is impossible and the Chinese government opposes it. If TikTok fails to convince the courts to overturn the law, it might have to shut down.
It's an extraordinary situation, indeed. Congress is not in the habit of legislating companies out of business. And this isn't just any company.
It's a company half the country patronizes (and is addicted to, some would say.) It's a company whose platform both presidential candidates used to woo voters. (They both at various times favored drastic action against the company but its reach is such that they apparently felt compelled to use it.)
Needless to say, it is TikTok's ownership by the Chinese company ByteDance that made Congress take this unusual step. TikTok has collected personal information on all those American customers. If China's government demanded that information be turned over, ByteDance would have no choice but to obey.
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