TikTok's fate in the US seems to have been decided. After several rumours regarding a possible ban on the short video-sharing app in the States, President Donald Trump has now confirmed that the US will ban the Chinese app if it is not purchased by an 'American' company by September. Read on to know more about this.
TikTok ban in the US confirmed
The decision to ban TikTok and more Chinese apps in the US has been taken after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) suggested that TikTok must be taken over by a US-based company for the US operations due to security issues. Trump has confirmed that the app will be blocked in the US if it isn't taken over by September 15. Additionally, he expects a cut from the deal in the US treasury.
Trump (via the Bloomberg) said, "I don’t mind whether it’s Microsoft or someone else, a big company, a secure company, a very American company buys it. It’ll close down on Sept. 15 unless Microsoft or somebody else is able to buy it and work out a deal, an appropriate deal, so the Treasury of the United States gets a lot of money."
For those who don't know, Microsoft is considering taking over the ByteDance-owned TikTok in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. While initially, it was just a rumour, Microsoft recently confirmed the same and suggested that a plan will be finalised by September. Trump was reportedly not happy with the deal but seems like he changed his mind and wants someone to take over TikTok. However, there is no word on how TikTok will work once acquired by Microsoft.
For this, Microsoft released an official statement, saying, "Microsoft will move quickly to pursue discussions with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, in a matter of weeks, and in any event completing these discussions no later than September 15, 2020. During this process, Microsoft looks forward to continuing dialogue with the United States Government, including with the President."
To recall, the ban on TikTok in the US came surface after it was recently banned in India. The popular short video-sharing app was banned alongside 58 other apps such as CamScanner, WeChat, ShareIt, Beauty Plus, and more.