So far, TikTok officials only officially say that they will defend the interests of users in court. “Foreign media reports discussing the sale of TikTok directly by ByteDance are not based on the truth,” the Chinese company said in a statement.
At the same time, the representatives of the company emphasized that “there are no plans to sell TikTok”, so the management of ByteDance is not considering this possibility at all, according to the official statement.
The Reuters agency has now managed to find out from four independent sources that are directly linked to ByteDance that the Chinese company would rather officially end the TikTok offer in the US and lose 170 million users than be swayed by pressure to sell off.
We will not sell TikTok, China’s ByteDance resists US pressure
Internet and PC
But first, he will try to use all legal means to overturn the ban. “Don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere,” TikTok chief Shou Zi Chew said after the bill was passed, adding that his company “will continue to fight for users’ rights in court.” He emphasized that the US Constitution is on the side of TikTok.
According to Reuters, the departure from the US would only take place if the courts did not side with ByteDance.
In Montana, a court intervened
Pressure to ban TikTok began to grow in the US last year due to concerns about user data. Over the summer, for example, lawmakers in Montana voted to ban the Chinese social network TikTok statewide — not just for officials, but for all users.
Montana was thus supposed to become the first US state to proceed with such strict repression due to concerns about the security of user data. But the lawmakers’ plans ran into trouble in court.
In December, the federal district court in Missoula preliminarily ruled that “the ban could violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution on freedom of speech.”
The process is still ongoing, but based on the court’s decision, the ban on the use of the app in Montana cannot be enforced yet, even though the legislators had intended to do so since the beginning of this year.
The law supports our shared priority of protecting Montanans from the surveillance of the Chinese Communist Party
The approved law, which is not yet valid due to the court’s decision, was very strict. The legislation explicitly prohibits downloading the TikTok app in Montana and will fine any app stores or TikTok itself if they offer it in the state.
The fine was set at $10,000 (CZK 225,000) per day for each case in which the entity offered users access to this application, Reuters reported.
However, it should be noted that the fine does not apply to TikTok users themselves. If they somehow manage to get the app, no one will fine them. So the restrictions are aimed exclusively at app stores.
Last year, Gov. Greg Gianforte bragged that this law supports their “shared priority – protecting the people of Montana from the surveillance of the Chinese Communist Party.”
Aid to Ukraine
US lawmakers have expressed concern that TikTok could provide US users’ data to the Chinese government. The fate of the platform subsequently became a significant topic in Washington. Lawmakers have faced calls in recent weeks from users expressing opposition to the proposed measure.
Nevertheless, a law was passed this week that essentially allows TikTok to be banned. However, it is not only aimed at the well-known video player app, it is called “21st Century Peace Through Strength Act”. Thanks to it, the US president will get the opportunity to adopt extensive sanctions against Iran and Russian officials, or allow the government to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.
“It’s unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using major foreign aid legislation as a cover to push through a bill that would trample on the free speech of 170 million Americans,” TikTok chief Shou Zi Chew fumed before Biden signed the bill.
With Biden’s signature, the nine-month period during which ByteDance must sell the TikTok network began to run. If the representatives of this Chinese giant had not done so, application databases operated by Apple or Google would not be able to provide TikTok in the US.
The new law allows the US government to ban other digital services with foreign owners at the same time.
How TikTok works
TikTok is most popular especially among teenagers, who, according to some statistics, already use it more often than Facebook. Among the users of this Chinese social network, we can also find older generations.
The principle of this online service is very simple, it is based on very short videos that are played one after the other. It’s the same as if you were viewing posts on Facebook and the screen scrolled itself to more and more posts.
But instead of text, they play prime videos on TikTok, short recordings with a length of three to 60 seconds. And just such a short duration seems to be a recipe for success, because in the US the Chinese social network has even surpassed Snapchat and Instagram.
At first it was possible to record videos of only 15 seconds, later it was possible to publish up to three-minute clips. Video content can now be up to ten minutes long.
Although short videos are still popular, many users are able to spend several hours a day on TikTok.
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