US, former Treasury secretary works on TikTok purchase after House ban
The bill, passed by a very large majority, gives the Chinese company ByteDance six months to sell the platform, which will otherwise be banned. Now the bill goes to the Senate
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Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is putting together a group of investors to try to buy TikTok. Mnuchin himself said this in an interview with Cnbc without specifying which investors might be interested in participating in the venture.
The news broke after the US House of Representatives voted to ban TikTok from the United States for national security reasons. The bill, passed by a very large majority (352 yes to 65 no), gives six months for the Chinese company ByteDance to sell the platform, which will otherwise be banned. About 170 million Americans use TikTok, including President Joe Biden. Now the bill goes to the Senate, where it is not certain that it will be passed.
TikTok has always denied any ties with the Chinese government and has decided to restructure the company so that the data of US users remains in the US.
Beijing: ban will backfire on the US
A US ban on the video-sharing app 'would inevitably backfire on the United States'. This was said before the vote by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, who said that Washington, 'despite never finding evidence that TikTok threatens US national security, has never stopped cracking down on TikTok'. The moves against the popular app is part of 'bullying behaviour', Wang added in the daily briefing. After the vote, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce also said that Beijing promises to take 'any useful measures' to protect its companies.
Ocasio-Cortez criticises the bill
"I will vote no to the forced sale of TikTok, this bill was rushed in an incredible way, from committee to vote in four days, with very little explanation." Thus Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the Dem left seems to find herself strangely in tune with Donald Trump in opposing the bill. "There are serious antitrust and privacy issues and national security concerns at stake that should be explained to the public before the vote," added on X the New York congresswoman, whose position gives voice to the young progressives who are among the users of the social media popular among Americans under 30.
