Viral social media platform TikTok is not backing down, despite President Biden’s recent signing of a sell or ban law demanding TikTok to either sell to a different parent company or face a banning in the United States. TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has chosen to stand their ground despite U.S. lawmaker’s efforts.
The reason for Biden’s new sell or ban law against the social media giant comes from years of allegations that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, is controlled by the Communist Chinese government, which U.S. officials believe could be a dangerous data leak for American users of the platform.
Through a popular Chinese social media app called Toutiao, ByteDance posted a statement regarding the recent U.S. law, claiming they have no plans to sell TikTok. The company also stated that they would plan to challenge the new law in court on the matters that ByteDance feels are unconstitutional. ByteDance stated that they are confident in the longevity of TikTok and that they would continue to fight for their rights in the courtroom.
ByteDance also responded to articles written by a technology industry website called The Information, which released articles claiming that ByteDance was planning to sell TikTok to an American parent company without its original algorithm. ByteDance denied these claims stating that the “rumors” from foreign media such as The Information were not true at all. ByteDance has also denied all claims that the Chinese government has access to foreign user’s data.
Although ByteDance is TikTok’s parent company, they are not the only company that has shares in TikTok. Surprisingly, ByteDance owns only 20% of TikTok shares, while a large portion of 60% is controlled by major investment groups such as General Atlantic, Carlyle Group, and Susquehanna International Group, which are all American-owned companies.
President Biden’s new law states that ByteDance has nine months to sell the platform before a ban takes place.
