The social network TikTok faces the countdown before its possible closure in the United States this Sunday. North American authorities have accused the platform of being controlled by Beijing, something that the company to which it belongs, ByteDance, has denied.
The US Government has demanded that TikTok sever all ties with ByteDance before January 19, since they understand that this relationship is a threat to national and North American security, because their data could end up in Asian power.
In the last hours, Joe Biden has decided to leave the final decision in the hands of Donald Trump, who will take office on Monday. Biden has explained that according to the calendar, the responsibility for applying the law falls on the next administration. Trump, for his part, has stated that he will make a decision “in the not too distant future.”
A decision that comes from the previous legislature
The president-elect already tried to veto TikTok in his first term (2017-2021) and asked that the ban be stopped after promising in the campaign that he would save TikTok because “has a place in your heart”, thanks to the role that the application has had in influencing the young vote.
Even, according to Chinese and American media, Trump has invited the CEO of Tikyok, Shou Zi Chew, to attend upon his inauguration. Shou has publicly thanked Trump for his commitment to keeping the social network in the United States and has praised the tycoon because he “really understands the platform,” as he has used it to express his own ideas.
Shou has denied that the Chinese government controls ByteDance
Shou Zi Chew already denied in 2023 that ByteDance is not under the control of the Chinese Government. “I have seen no evidence that the Chinese Executive has access to the data.” However, Beijing has a ‘golden share’ in ByteDance that gives it the right to veto any decision. TikTok defends that this situation only affects ByteDance in China but not its businesses abroad.
The Chinese media have commented that this week the Chinese Instagram Xiaohongshu has been among the most downloaded applications by TikTok users in the face of the threat of closure, which they have called “TikTok refugees”. TikTok has reached 150 million users in the American country.
Origin of Tiktok’s success
We have to go back to 2016, when ByteDance, formerly called Jinritoutiao, launched Douyin, the original application from TikTok, full of music, effects and a personalized “feed”. In 2017 it began its global expansion and changed its name to TikTok, acquiring Musical.ly. In the first quarter of 2018 it was the most downloaded application in the world.
This has caused geopolitical conflicts due to its Chinese origin, for example In 2020 India banned it in your country. That same year its downloads increased by more than 200 million.