the future of TikTok in the United States could begin to be defined this Thursday in Washington. Today, the CEO of the company, Shou Zi Chew, will testify before Congress, in a hostile climate for the espionage accusations against his app. And as if the scenario wasn’t already complex enough, China came out to express its opposition to any attempt to force the sale of the popular video app.
According to collect Bloomberg, it was Shu Jueting, from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, who made public the disapproval of any US attempt to force TikTok to be sold, under the threat of being blocked. According to the official, such a determination “would seriously undermine the confidence of investors from all countries, including China, to invest in the United States.”
In addition, he indicated that if ByteDance were forced to sell TikTok’s US operations, the movement would be equivalent to an export of technology. Therefore, it would be regulated by Chinese laws and would require its administrative approval. What does this mean? That the Asian giant would have the authority to block the sale or, at least, delay its approval.
It is clear that, under this scenario, no scenario favors the popular video platform. If it does not agree to be sold and the United States blocks it, TikTok will lose its main international market. And if you agree to the US terms, but China prevents the sale from going through, its operation in North America could also be suspended.
“The Chinese government will take action in accordance with the law,” Shu Jueting said defiantly. So things, all the pressure shifts to Shou Zi Chew’s shoulders. The Singaporean businessman will have to face the questions of the Energy and Commerce Committee of the United States House of Representatives. And while the final decision on the future of TikTok will not be made today, what happens in the next few hours will have a direct impact on it.
TikTok faces one of its most difficult moments in the United States
The expectation for the presentation of the CEO of TikTok in Congress is such that the businessman himself lobbied through the app. In a video posted on the official TikTok account, Shou Zi Chew launched several covert darts at US politicians.
First, he assured that TikTok today has more than 150 million active users per month in the United States. “That’s almost half of the population coming to TikTok to connect, create, share, learn or have fun,” she said. But not only that, but he also remarked that 5 million businesses, mostly small and medium-sized, use the platform to promote themselves. Although the strongest thrust directed at legislators was touching an always sensitive point: labor. According to Shō, the company has 7,000 employees on US soil.
In this way, the message that TikTok is trying to impose is that a hypothetical blocking of the app is much more than just removing it from the App Store or the Play Store; or prevent its use by those who have already installed it on their device. The negative consequences of the measure on trade and employment could be brutal, and would further complicate the economic and financial landscape both in North America and in the rest of the world.
Beyond the espionage accusations
It’s also true that the TikTok CEO’s congressional hearing isn’t just aimed at dealing with espionage allegations. The impact of the platform on the youngest, especially about his mental healthis another of the burning issues that is on the table.
It remains to be seen how everything progresses. For now, from the video app they maintain that China has never requested access to the data of US users. In addition, they propose to develop a cloud infrastructure together with Oracle to keep them protected.
As for protecting its younger audience from malicious content, TikTok implemented several measures in the last time. From the limitation in the time that the app can be used each day, to a system of strikes to punish profiles that violate their rules.