It appears that TikTok is not really getting a lot of chance to breathe. In just a week's time, the platform had to go through several hoops, and now the bill has been signed by President Biden, which means that ByteDance, the parent company, will have to do something to save itself.
ByteDance has nine months to a year to divest TikTok or face a permanent ban on the platform in the U.S., losing one of its biggest markets
So, what is going to happen now? Well, ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, has been given two options. It can divest the platform to an American company in the next nine months, which can be extended up to a year if the President sees progress being made; the next option is a lot simpler, where the platform will face an effective ban.
TikTok, on the other hand, is not willing to go down silently and abide by what has been decided. The company has made an official statement on how it looks forward to challenging the ban in court. It even went as far as calling this ban unconstitutional. You can read the company's statement posted on X below:
Our Statement on Enactment of the TikTok Ban:
This unconstitutional law is a TikTok ban, and we will challenge it in court. We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and we will ultimately prevail. The fact is, we have invested billions of dollars to keep U.S.…
— TikTok Policy (@TikTokPolicy) April 24, 2024
Looking at all the social media platforms that are available, it is more than safe to say that TikTok happens to be one of the largest and fastest-growing in the world. The platform currently has over 1 billion monthly users and over 170 million active users in the U.S., and it also happens to be the first app to manage to reach $10 billion of in-app spending. All of this combined means that its existence in the U.S. market is not something that can be taken lightly. If the platform does not divest and gets banned permanently, things could worsen for the users and the company. After all, there are not many viable alternatives that provide the same experience.
Considering how this is a developing story, it is safe to say that we are expecting to hear more from TikTok going forward. I am really interested in learning how the court handles the situation and whether the platform comes out victorious.
Do you think ByteDance should divest TikTok or fight the matter in court? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
News Source: The White House
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