ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, has announced that if the China-based company exhausts all legal avenues to counter the US ban, it will not be able to keep up with popular videos despite growing interest from US buyers in the platform. It is reportedly choosing to shut down the sharing app rather than sell it.
The algorithms that TikTok relies on to operate are considered core to ByteDance’s entire operation, and people close to the parent company say it’s highly unlikely that an app powered by the algorithms will be sold.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said Wednesday after President Joe Biden signed legislation forcing ByteDance to sell its app within 270 days or face a ban. Social media companies have vowed to wage legal war.
On Thursday, ByteDance shot down the following report. informationHe said he is considering a scenario in which he could sell TikTok’s U.S. operations without using the algorithm.
The company posted on its own media platform Toutiao: There were no plans to sell TikTok accounts for a small portion of ByteDance’s total revenue and daily active users.
The people, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said the closure would have a limited impact on ByteDance’s business, but the company would not have to let go of its core algorithms.
ByteDance declined to comment.
A TikTok spokesperson told the Post that the “information article is inaccurate.”
The Information report also noted that TikTok has no intention of giving up its valuable algorithms even if it sells its U.S. operations.
The secret algorithm, which tailors each TikTok user’s “For You” page to include videos designed to appeal to their individual interests, is at the center of a political debate over whether the app should be banned in the United States. It has become.
Some officials have argued that TikTok’s secret algorithms allow third parties in China to spy on U.S. users, threatening national security.
TiTok has already said it intends to challenge the new law in court, calling the US government’s efforts to ban the short-form video sharing platform “unconstitutional.”
“Rest assured, we’re not going anywhere,” TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew told ByteDance in a video posted shortly after Biden signed the bill. gave them 270 days to sell their US assets.
“The facts and the Constitution are on our side, and we expect to prevail.”
Supporters of the new rules advised ByteDance to dump its TikTok fans in the United States in order to continue operating the social media platform.
“It doesn’t have to be this painful for ByteDance,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill, recently posted on X. it’s their choice. ”
ByteDance has since dashed hopes of a sale, but wealthy American financial and tech tycoons are reportedly preparing multibillion-dollar bids to acquire TikTok.
Among the suitors are former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the former chief executive of Activision Blizzard, who has reportedly discussed a possible offer with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. There is also Bobby Kotick.
There were also rumors that outspoken Pershing Square hedge fund boss Bill Ackman and “Shark Tank” billionaire Kevin O’Leary might bid.
Unfortunately for these deep-pocketed and ambitious owners of TikTok, ByteDance appears to be sticking to China’s Ministry of Commerce’s comments last year that it strongly opposed any sale.
Representatives for TikTok and ByteDance did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
If TikTok is indeed banned in the United States, app stores like those run by Apple and Google would be subject to civil penalties if they continue to distribute TikTok.
The TikTok app will no longer be able to be updated on U.S. phones, making it incompatible with the latest versions of iOS and Android, and will no longer function.
The app is already on millions of phones in the United States, but if passed, the bill would force internet service providers to block access to TikTok. According to software-centric blog Lifehackereffectively shutting down access to the platform regardless of whether the platform is already on the device.
Lifehacker pointed out that this is exactly how the Indian government decided to ban the app citing national security threats.
with post wire
