US law
Tiktok announces resistance to change of ownership
The Tiktok platform is particularly popular among young people. photo
© Monika Skolimowska/dpa
US politicians want to see Tiktok under American control. A law for this is on the way – much to the annoyance of the video platform.
Tiktok insists that the aim of the law is to ban the app in the US, while US politicians say they simply want to ensure that Chinese authorities cannot exert influence on Tiktok that harms American interests. The company and its parent company Bytedance deny all allegations.
The law could result in Tiktok being banned from American app stores if there is no change in ownership. It was passed with a large majority in the US House of Representatives and now has to pass the Senate as the second chamber of parliament. President Joe Biden has already announced that he will sign it.
Criticism from the Tiktok boss
Shou Chew pointed out that the law will give “a handful of other social media companies” more influence. The Tiktok boss also claimed the bill would put 300,000 jobs in the US at risk. His company often points to small businesses using the service for advertising. According to its own information, Tiktok has 170 million users in the USA.
It is currently unclear whether the law has enough support in the Senate. In the House of Representatives, a cross-party majority of Republicans and Democrats came together with 352 votes to 65. In the Senate, where Biden’s Democrats hold a slim majority, there are supporters and critics of the plan on both sides.
Security advisor: Ban is not a goal
Concerns include that a Tiktok ban could be challenged on the basis of freedom of speech enshrined in the US Constitution. That’s why Donald Trump, as US President, had already failed in court in his attempt to force a change of ownership at Tiktok. And that’s why a prohibition law in the US state of Montana is currently on hold.
Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said this week that this is not about a Tiktok ban, but about a change of ownership. He then asked the rhetorical question: “Do we want Tiktok as a platform to be owned by an American company – or owned by China?”
Tiktok rejects all concerns and emphasizes that it does not see itself as a subsidiary of a Chinese company. After all, Bytedance is 60 percent owned by Western investors and the company headquarters are on the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean. Critics counter that the Chinese founders, with a share of 20 percent, maintained control thanks to higher voting rights and that Bytedance has a large headquarters in Beijing.