TikTok may disappear from the US. What the media say
Chinese company ByteDance is preparing to shut down its TikTok app in the US on January 20. Users are promised to be given the opportunity to download all their data. What foreign media write about the possible shutdown of the application - in Izvestia digest
Reuters: TikTok is preparing to close the application in the United States on Sunday
TikTok plans to shut down its U.S. app, used by 170 million Americans, on Sunday, Jan. 19, when a federal ban goes into effect, unless there is a last-minute delay, sources familiar with the situation said on Wednesday. The law banning new downloads of the social networking app unless parent company ByteDance sells the site was signed into law in April.
Reuters
Users who have downloaded TikTok will theoretically still be able to use the app, except that as of Sunday, the law also prohibits U.S. companies from providing services to distribute, maintain or update it
Trump said he would need time after taking office to deal with a "political solution" to the issue.
AP: Biden is "putting the fate" of TikTok in Trump's hands
The issue of a possible blocking of TikTok has been hotly debated in the US in recent days, as it is set to happen on January 19, according to the law passed in 2024. The very next day will be the inauguration of Trump. The Republican, who used to be hostile to the Chinese social network, became its fan after a successful presidential campaign.
AP
President Joe Biden will not fast-track a ban on social media app TikTok that is set to take effect a day before he leaves office Monday, a U.S. official said Thursday, leaving its fate in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump
TikTok chief Chu Shou Tzu has been invited to Trump's inauguration ceremony. This could indicate that the president-elect's team is willing to find a solution to keep the social network operating in the country.
Axios: more than 70% of young Americans oppose blocking TikTok
About 73% of respondents between the ages of 13 and 39 in the U.S. said they do not support banning TikTok, according to a new poll by YPulse, a youth research organization.
Axios
According to the poll, while both Millennials and Generation Z oppose the ban, members of the older generation are five percentage points more likely to support it. 64% of respondents said they would miss watching TikTok content, while a slightly smaller share (58%) said they would miss specific authors and accounts
More than a quarter of respondents said that banning TikTok would affect their job or income. According to YPulse, also just over a quarter of respondents agreed that they are addicted to TikTok and would be better off without it. Most respondents said they would move to YouTube (32%) and Instagram (25%) if TikTok closed.
Financial Times: TikTok's competitors will increase revenues if it is banned in the US
The revenues of Meta (recognized as extremist and banned in Russia) and YouTube will increase by several billion dollars if TikTok, owned by ByteDance, is banned in the US, top advertising executives say. This is as rival technology platforms prepare for a potential "takeover" of users.
Financial Times
The potential ban forces rivals including Meta, YouTube, Snap and Ilon Musk's X to pounce on Generation Z TikTok users and the money advertisers are spending to influence them as they seek to grab market share in an increasingly competitive industry
Meanwhile, President-elect Trump promised to "preserve" the app when he takes over the White House a day later, without providing details.
Euronews: TikTok denied the likelihood of selling the social network to Musk
TikTok has denied rumors of a possible transfer of the social network's U.S. division to Ilon Musk's control.
Euronews
The company said that preliminary talks about China bringing Ilon Musk in as a possible buyer for its US operations were "pure fiction"
The law, according to which TikTok can be blocked in the U.S. if the application is not sold by January 19, 2025, was signed by current U.S. President Joe Biden in April 2024. The U.S. government views it as a national security threat because of its ties to China. Officials in Washington have argued that the vast amounts of user data the social network collects, including sensitive information about browsing habits, could fall into the hands of the Chinese government.
