What’s going on?

The US House just passed the bill that would force ByteDance to ban or sell Tiktok’s US arm.

What does this mean?

• Having long been defensive about the possibility of Tiktok’s data of millions of Americans landing in the Chinese government’s hands, the US House of Representatives just approved a bill that could ban TikTok from stateside app stores unless ByteDance (its Chinese owner) sells it off.
  • To finally be executed, the bill will have to be approved by The Senate and afterward, the President, but everything seems imminent)
• Microsoft and Oracle already started looking into (acquiring) TikTok when the rumor was floated 2 years ago. They’ll need to prepare a lot of money, with ByteDance’s valuation around $268bn, TikTok’s US arm could go for up to $50bn – even surpassing the $44bn that Musk paid for Twitter.

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: We’ll see how China reacts

• China might block the sale of TikTok’s US business, with its algorithm being the secret source in the user engagement world.
• China could also hit back at the US with its own restrictions, although major platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Reddit, and YouTube have already been banned in China.

Zooming out: Someone is chuckling

• With Instagram Reels, Meta seems to be the instant beneficiary from the bill by suddenly being the go-to spot for anyone with an attention span.
• YouTube’s “Shorts” video feature could be smiling too.

Content source: Finimize (2024) Tik Tok Boom. Available at: https://finimize.com/content/tik-tok-boom [Accessed on Mar 16, 2024]