Congress has found itself with a difficult task in tackling the rising concerns of American citizens over the social media application TikTok. While alternative measures were considered, they faced strong opposition from the Chinese Communist Party, making it highly unlikely that an agreement will ever be reached.
A bipartisan house committee on Energy and Commerce recently proposed a very interesting concept for TikTok. They proposed that it separate from its Chinese parent company, Byte Dance. Despite the suggestion of the committee, Byte Dance made it quite clear what their answer regarding such a request would be.
Daily Wire reports, many American lawmakers have floated a potential forced sale of TikTok to the US by its Chinese parent company in response to national security and data privacy concerns. Chinese officials “resolutely oppose” such a move.
In recent months, both Democrats and Republicans have expressed concern over allegations that Chinese Communist Party affiliates and employees of ByteDance, which owns TikTok, can access user information. China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shu Jueting told the Associated Press on Thursday that officials will not permit a forced sale of ByteDance to TikTok.
She told reporters at a news conference, “If the news is true, China will resolutely oppose it,” adding that the sale “would seriously damage investors from multiple countries including China” and hurt “confidence to invest in the United States.”
The comments came hours before TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee about Chinese officials’ power over TikTok and ByteDance. During his opening remarks, he said the organization is not an “agent of China or any other country.”
Some officials have called for a complete ban on TikTok, while others have pushed the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States to mandate ByteDance’s divestiture. According to one recent proposal called Project Texas, TikTok will spend $1.5 billion protecting user data and ensuring Chinese officials cannot access it.
Here is what the TikTok CEO had to say about a possibility of a divestiture.
The idea of a divestiture is idiotic to say the least. The CCP did not create TikTok so they could sell it to the U.S. that would defeat its point of destroying American society. Not to mention, Americans should not trust our government attempting to negotiate with the CCP to purchase TikTok. We all know what would go down behind those closed doors.The main reason they want to purchase it is so they can wield the power it will grant them just like China is doing. If a divestiture ever returns to the table we as a people should be extremely skeptical.
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