ByteDance reports claim that the TikTok parent company will not sell the social media platform to a US firm and would rather shut the app down in the US.
US President Biden enacted a bill on April 24 saying that ByteDance will have to sell the social media platform to a US company or face a nationwide ban. In addition, ByteDance has a nine-month deadline and a three-month extension if there’s already a deal in the making. Reuters said that sources do not believe ByteDance will sell as it would require the company to share its algorithms. Also, TikTok is just a ‘small part’ of ByteDance’s overall operations, and shutting down in the US will not have a huge impact.

Steven Mnuchin, former US Treasury Secretary is said to be forming an investor group to try and purchase TikTok. The US government believes that data collected in the US could be provided to the Chinese government.