ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in U.S. if legal options fail, Reuters sources say
ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in U.S. if legal options fail, Reuters sources say
TikTok owner ByteDance would prefer to shut down its loss-making app rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the U.S., four sources said.
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I’m still confused on how they enforce this
I'd assume they'll tell ISPs to block TikTok's domains/IPs. It won't stop determined people but it's realistically the best they can do.
@LostXOR @yogthos @NoIWontPickAName @technology There's a few other steps they could potentially take.
The first would be to block any financial institution in the US, or that deals with the US, from sending any payments to or from ByteDance's accounts.
They could also freeze any assets currently held by US financial institutions.
Second, if they can get Apple, Microsoft, and Google on board to help do their bidding, they could pull the ByteDance app from the Apple and Google Play app stores.
That includes removing it from any apps where it's already installed. Globally.
They could also request that TikTok is removed from Google and Bing search results.
On top of this, they could do what you suggested, and ask ISPs and mobile carriers to block domains and IP addresses used by ByteDance.
And the US could apply diplomatic pressure on other countries to implement similar financial and ISP-level blocks and bans.
So, potentially, it's also blocked in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and elsewhere.
No need to guess, it's all outlined in the bill:
- ByteDance has 270 days (+90 days at president discretion) to divest of TikTok and sell to an entity not affiliated with an "adversary country" (China, Iran, Russia, N. Korea).
- If they don't sell, hosting providers of TikTok application (servers, storage, app store, etc) will be fined up to $500 times the number of users in the US if they continue to host the application
- ISPs are explicitly excluded from the bill, and not considered data brokers, which is what the restrictions apply to.
So basically, the law will not require ISPs to block access to TikTok domains and IP addresses. Google search results are also explicitly excluded from the term data broker, and exempt from the restrictions. The only requirement is for app stores to stop hosting the application, so existing installations of the app (after January 2025 assuming ByteDance doesn't sell) will presumably persist and can be used, even if TikTok is banned.
Making any major social media service mildly inconvenient will kill it.
They have the app stores ban it from being downloaded if you are in the USA. This is already done, and app stores aren't affected by on device VPNs, so it wouldn't be that easy to get around.
For example, you can't download this app since (I'm guessing) you live in the USA, similar enough. It's geolocked. Same will happen with Tiktok.