TikTok Faces Pressure to Sell Amid Congressional Mandate, Making Tech Giants Compete For Its Acquisition

By Thea Felicity

Mar 11, 2024 09:38 AM EDT

This photo illustration shows the TikTok logo reflected in an image of the US flag, in Washington, DC, on March 16, 2023. - China urged the United States to stop "unreasonably suppressing" TikTok on March 16, 2023, after Washington gave the popular video-sharing app an ultimatum to part ways with its Chinese owners or face a nationwide ban.
(Photo : Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Earlier this week, VCPost reported that the US House Panel will approve a ban on TikTok. Now, the possibility of a TikTok sale has ignited discussions on Wall Street,

The reason behind is that people in Congress are worried about TikTok being linked to the Chinese government and being used for spreading messages and spying.

In the latest update from the New York Post, a new bill mandates that the company that owns TikTok, ByteDance, which is based in China, sell it within six months. If they don't, TikTok might be banned in the US.

Who Are Interested In Buying TikTok?

Big companies like Microsoft, Meta, Apple, and Google are interested in buying TikTok. However, smaller companies like Snap don't have enough money to do So, making it harder for them to join the race.

Oracle, a big software company, still has a shot after showing interest before. In fact, the company has already been working with TikTok on some projects, like "Project Texas."

Surprisingly, Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision, has shown interest in buying TikTok. He talked about it with Zhang Yiming, who chairs ByteDance, which means he could get a better chance than most tech giants. Besides, with this acquisition, TikTok can still be the same with just a new leadership on track.

As talks about selling TikTok get more serious, there are challenges from both regulations and tensions between the United States and China. China's strong resistance to selling TikTok shows how complicated things are between countries. This affects how technology is used in diplomacy and relations between nations.

Now, it's uncertain whether the bill will pass through. But President Biden already has plans to expedite the process by saying he'd sign the bill, with both Democrats and Republicans agree on this issue.

But selling TikTok won't be easy.

Currently, if these big companies buy TikTok, it might not be fair for other companies. This means regulators must check carefully to ensure everything is fair and square.

Currently, TikTok's future is up in the air, and there's no clear picture of who might be allowed to buy the company. Congress hasn't issued regulations yet to oversee the process.

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