In case you did not know, there are actually two versions of TikTok. There is the TikTok that most of the world knows about, and there’s also Douyin which is a version of TikTok designed specifically for the Chinese-speaking market. Both are owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance.
However, it seems that ByteDance has agreed to divest its US operations in hopes that this will prevent TikTok from getting banned in the US. US President Donald Trump spoke on Friday in which he revealed that he would be getting ready to issue an order to have TikTok banned in the US.
Previously, ByteDance had hoped to maybe retain some small level of control over TikTok by keeping a minority stake in the company, but this was reportedly rejected by the White House. Under this new proposal, ByteDance would divest themselves completely of TikTok’s US operations.
It is unclear what will happen to TikTok and if it would operate independently after this, but last we heard, Microsoft was apparently interested in acquiring the company. If that is true, it would give Microsoft an entry into the social media market with a very established platform. Nothing official has been announced but we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled.
Filed in . Read more about China and Tiktok. Source: thestar.my