Would Banning TikTok Be a Boon or Bummer for Hollywood?
variety.comTodd Spangler NY Digital Editor China hawks in the House have propped TikTok on a political football tee, passing legislation that threatens to kick it off the phones of millions of Americans unless TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, sells its ownership in the app.
Right now, there appears to be much less urgency in the Senate to move forward on a measure aimed at forcing TikTok to cut its China ties, while President Biden has said he would sign such a bill (even as his re-election campaign just launched an account on TikTok).
Meanwhile, to China, the saber-rattling looks like a trade dispute — wherein the U.S., on the pretext of “national security” concerns, is looking to thwart a successful overseas internet app that has been grabbing share of viewing time and ad dollars from American tech companies.
If (and it’s a big if) the bill become federal law, analysts see a very real possibility that TikTok would effectively be banned in the U.S., as China would block a forced sale of TikTok by ByteDance.
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