Mr. Wonderful to buy TikTok?
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“Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary suggested that he will buy social media platform TikTok if a proposed ban goes ahead Friday.
“Not going to get banned, ‘cause I’m gonna buy it,” O’Leary said on Fox News’ “The Story” in an interview with anchor Gillian Turner. “Somebody’s going to buy it, it won’t be Meta and it won’t be Google, ‘cause…regulator [will] stop that.”
On Tuesday, a bipartisan House bill that would ban the popular app if its China-based parent company ByteDance doesn’t divest from it was unveiled. It was introduced by Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), who are both the top lawmakers on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
“This is worth billions, it’s one of the most successful advertising platforms in social media today,” O’Leary continued. “All my companies use it, I’ll buy it.”
If the bill becomes law, ByteDance would have more than five months to divest from TikTok. If it does not do that, the platform will become illegal to distribute on an app store or web housing platform in the U.S.
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Can someone give me a tl;dr version of what the objections are to TikTok?
Yeah, it's a mind-polluting piece of social media, but really, is it any different from FB or X?
What are the concerns about the influence that Chy-na has over TikTok?
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Can someone give me a tl;dr version of what the objections are to TikTok?
Yeah, it's a mind-polluting piece of social media, but really, is it any different from FB or X?
What are the concerns about the influence that Chy-na has over TikTok?
@George-K said in Mr. Wonderful to buy TikTok?:
Can someone give me a tl;dr version of what the objections are to TikTok?
The data that is collected by Tiktok (location data, keystroke entry, (maybe even facical recognition), etc.) is collected by the company, and even though Tiktok says that tiktok is completely separate from the parent company in China (which is close ties to the mainland chinese government), there is still the chance (or likely) that tiktok data is given to the Chinese government.
I believe that the US military bans Tiktok already because of transmitting location concerns.
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Can someone give me a tl;dr version of what the objections are to TikTok?
Yeah, it's a mind-polluting piece of social media, but really, is it any different from FB or X?
What are the concerns about the influence that Chy-na has over TikTok?
@George-K said in Mr. Wonderful to buy TikTok?:
Can someone give me a tl;dr version of what the objections are to TikTok?
Absolutely massive security issues with a Chinese-owned platform.
It's amazing what Tik-Tok will learn about you. Even without an account.
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@George-K said in Mr. Wonderful to buy TikTok?:
Can someone give me a tl;dr version of what the objections are to TikTok?
Absolutely massive security issues with a Chinese-owned platform.
It's amazing what Tik-Tok will learn about you. Even without an account.
@Aqua-Letifer said in Mr. Wonderful to buy TikTok?:
It's amazing what Tik-Tok will learn about you. Even without an account.
Do tell?
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@Aqua-Letifer said in Mr. Wonderful to buy TikTok?:
It's amazing what Tik-Tok will learn about you. Even without an account.
Do tell?
@George-K said in Mr. Wonderful to buy TikTok?:
@Aqua-Letifer said in Mr. Wonderful to buy TikTok?:
It's amazing what Tik-Tok will learn about you. Even without an account.
Do tell?
Eh, YouTube is your friend. It's a lot. Basically anonymity is impossible.
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On Friday, Trump spoke out against a bill that would force ByteDance to divest from TikTok.
During his time in the White House, Trump tried to ban the app but lost in the courts.
His change of heart came soon after he met with a billionaire investor with a big stake in TikTok.
Former President Donald Trump recently said he is against banning TikTok, a reversal from his previous position. His comments came soon after meeting with a billionaire GOP donor with a large stake in the company.
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Supposedly, there's a vote tomorrow on this. I wrote my congress critter - and tried to provide clarity on my concern.
*I believe congress has determined that it must find an issue to demonstrate that it can "do something" and Tik Tok apparently is the target. Let me make this clear, if you vote to ban Tik Tok, I will be demonstrating the same amount of thoughtfulness for my vote - and vote for your opponent - whomever that is.
With kind regards for your thoughtful vote,*
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Supposedly, there's a vote tomorrow on this. I wrote my congress critter - and tried to provide clarity on my concern.
*I believe congress has determined that it must find an issue to demonstrate that it can "do something" and Tik Tok apparently is the target. Let me make this clear, if you vote to ban Tik Tok, I will be demonstrating the same amount of thoughtfulness for my vote - and vote for your opponent - whomever that is.
With kind regards for your thoughtful vote,*
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The House voted Wednesday to pass legislation that could ban TikTok in the U.S. as Republicans and Democrats alike sound the alarm that the popular video-sharing app, owned by a China-based company, is a national security threat.
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The vote was 352-65, with one member, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, voting present. ...
Fifty Democrats and 15 Republicans voted against the bill. ...Not an outright ban, but a "divorce yourself from your Chinese corporate parent or be banned" sort of bill.
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Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is interested in buying TikTok
Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday he’s assembling a team of investors to make a bid to buy TikTok.
This comes a day after the House passed a measure to ban the Chinese-owned social media giant or force a sale to a US-operated owner.
“It’s a great business and I’m going to put together a group to buy TikTok,” Mnuchin said in an interview on CNBC Thursday morning. Even though TikTok is likely unprofitable, “it’s worth a lot of money,” he added.
Mnuchin said he would give existing US investors the option to roll over their stakes in TikTok but stressed that no entity would have more than 10% control. But he declined to name any individuals on the team he’s putting together.
“There’s no way that the Chinese would ever let a US company own something like this in China,” he said. From his time in the administration, he said he’s seen evidence that having TikTok on your phone gives it the ability to “collect an awful lot of data.”
But ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, may never be allowed to be sold to any company outside of China because of measures the government began putting into place in 2020. The Chinese government deems TikTok a sensitive technology and officials have said they’d oppose any forced sale that would involve exporting it into the hands of a foreign owner.
When Chy-na says that TikTok has "sensitive technology"....
