At the hearing which took place on Friday, several magistrates of the highest American court seemed sensitive to the arguments linked to national security raised by Congress, which fears the exploitation by the Chinese government of the data of American users of TikTok . The Supreme Court’s decision is expected any day this week.
Interdiction
In the event of a ban, it will be up to the American government to force mobile application stores to remove the social network from their platform. TikTok would then no longer be downloadable. Users already equipped with the app would keep it but would no longer be able to update it, which would ultimately make it difficult or even impossible to use.
As the social network is still accessible elsewhere than in the United States, American Internet users who wish could use a VPN, software that allows sites and application stores to be deceived about their geographic location. In an internal memo, cited by the specialized media The Verge, the company informed its employees that its offices would remain “open, even if the situation is still not resolved by January 19”, the deadline for transferring the application to another owner.
Workaround
However, the application of the law will be left to the discretion of the new Trump government and, more particularly, to the future Minister of Justice, Pam Bondi. Given Donald Trump’s opposition to the disappearance of TikTok, she could choose inaction, thus effectively preserving the social network.
As part of the proceedings before the Supreme Court, Donald Trump asked the senior judges to postpone their decision until after his inauguration, believing he could “save the platform while responding to national security concerns”. He could in particular suggest to the Republican majority in Congress to amend the text to offer room for maneuver to TikTok.
Sale
Until now, ByteDance had opposed the idea of selling its jewel but, according to the Bloomberg agency, the Chinese government would be open to a takeover by Elon Musk, already a majority shareholder of another social network, -Twitter), and ally of Donald Trump. TikTok on Monday called this scenario “pure fiction”.
Other declared candidates are in the running, notably businessman Frank McCourt. He brought together investors around his Project Liberty concept, which wants to make TikTok a platform focused on the security of its users. The one who also owns the French football club Olympique de Marseille estimates the value of TikTok US at $20 billion. The former boss of video game publisher Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick, also remains interested, according to the website The Information.
Migration
If all the servers on which TikTok US runs are now housed in the United States, the question of the technical feasibility of a split is debated, as such an operation has no known precedent. The potential extinction of the American version of the social network would appear to be a blessing for its rivals, first and foremost YouTube (Shorts) and Instagram (Reels), which have declined, in recent years, the format of short videos that have made them globally successful. from TikTok.
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