U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated on Thursday that TikTok must cease its American operations unless China approves a sale of the Chinese-owned short-video app, used by approximately 170 million Americans. Speaking on CNBC, Lutnick emphasized that America must control the algorithm driving the social media platform.
David Shepardson for Reuters:
Last month, President Donald Trump extended by 90 days to September 17 a deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the U.S. assets of TikTok.
“China can have a little piece or ByteDance, the current owner, can keep a little piece. But basically, Americans will have control. Americans will own the technology, and Americans will control the algorithm,” Lutnick said. “If that deal gets approved, by the Chinese, then that deal will happen. If they don’t approve it, then TikTok is going to go dark, and those decisions are coming very soon.”
Trump has three times granted reprieves from federal enforcement of the law that mandated the sale or shutdown of TikTok that was supposed to take effect in January.
Attorney General Pam Bondi sent letters to Apple, Google, and other companies that provide services or host the TikTok app that were made public this month.
The letters said the Justice Department was irrevocably relinquishing any claims against the companies for potential violations of the law, citing Trump’s determination that an abrupt shutdown would interfere with his overseeing national security and foreign affairs.
MacDailyNews Take: Earlier this month, it was reported that TikTok will release a new American-specific version of its app on Apple’s and Google’s app stores on September 5th, as it nears an agreement to sell its U.S. business.
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