Tech
TikTok pullout imminent as US threatens Google and Apple with sanctions if they don't comply
The company behind TikTok claims that Trump promised to prevent the blocking of the app in the United States.
The United States remains firm on blocking TikTok nationwide. What was a bill passed by the House of Representatives in March has now become a firm proposal with an imminent date. Now lawmakers are urging Google and Apple to remove the app from their digital stores with a deadline of January 19, 2025, to avoid penalties.
The blocking of TikTok has a motive: to protect Americans from Chinese communists
“Congress has acted decisively to defend the national security of the United States and protect TikTok’s American users from the Chinese Communist Party. We urge TikTok to immediately execute a qualified divestiture,” the lawmakers said in statements picked up by Reuters. The only way ByteDance can continue to market the application there is to sell the company. Bobby Kotick, former president of Activision Blizzard, has shown interest in acquiring the application in the past, but nothing is firm now. The company has also indicated that Donald Trump promised to lift the blockade when he became president, although no recent messages from him have been released at this time.
The situation is as follows: once the application is withdrawn, users who already have it on their phones will be able to continue using it without any kind of restriction. However, those who do not have it will not be able to access it if they are in the United States. In the long run, this blockage could lead to the withdrawal of support, which would affect the former, although this is unlikely to happen with the success it is enjoying around the world.
The problem goes back a long way. In October, 14 U.S. states filed a class-action lawsuit against the app for “for harming children’s mental health.” It’s not just China’s surveillance of its rival on the geopolitical map that’s under scrutiny, but also the symptoms that can cause problems for the safety of minors with access.
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