Due to a proposed law being drafted in the Congress of the United States of America, ByteDance may have to sell the social network TikTok. A sale in which Bobby Kotick, former CEO of Activision Blizzard King, would have shown a lot of interest.
The protection of personal data has been in the public debate for a long time and many measures have already been taken. In Europe, the GDPR has been applied since 2016, forcing all players to comply.
Much more recently, and in a tense climate with China, the United States is simply threatening to ban Tiktok due to concerns over Beijing’s use of user data through the application.
From video games to TikTok, there is only one step
On March 1, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives adopted a bill aimed at completely banning the TikTok application from American devices or forcing the resale of this subsidiary owned by the Chinese giant ByteDance. An important step, which caused a reaction from the video sharing platform, which broadcast a video inviting users to contact their representatives.
An approach which was poorly received, and which further caused the acceleration of work on this file. At present, the most likely scenario is the resale of TikTok in the United States, and suffice to say that there are numerous takeover candidates. In a recent article published by the Wall Street Journal, we learned that Bobby Kotick, former and very controversial CEO of Activision Blizzard King, would have expressed his interest in acquiring TikTok if necessary.
This interest would have been expressed during a meal organized as part of the Allen & Co conference, a table at which we found in particular Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. Bobby Kotick would have suggested the idea of a partnership, to which other investors would have to join, in order to cover the very probably pharaonic cost of such an acquisition.
TikTok: a “threat” to national security
The case of TikTok is particularly complex, because nearly 170 million Americans use it more or less actively. But for Michael McCaul, the author of the law, the social network, and more particularly the data it could provide to the Chinese government, constitutes a real threat:
“ Make no mistake, TikTok is a real security threat. Anyone who downloaded TikTok to their device gave the Chinese Communist Party a backdoor to all their personal information. »
For TikTok, these accusations are unfounded and blocking TikTok would amount to “ muzzle freedom of expression “. Joe Biden, the President of the United States, announced that he would sign the text if it was adopted by the Senate, and the White House has already asked institutions to ensure that in the event of a ban, TikTok disappears from devices within 30 days. Still, in the event of a sale, it is not certain that Bobby Kotick, who left Activision Blizzard King after the takeover by Microsoft and with some controversies in his bag, will be able to follow through with his idea.
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TikTok is a social media app primarily focused on creating and sharing short videos. TikTok has quickly become popular with a wide audience, especially among young people. The app allows users to create videos up to 3 minutes long, often featuring music, lip-syncing, dancing, comedy skits, and other forms of expressive performances.
TikTok is a social media app primarily focused on creating and sharing short videos. TikTok has quickly become popular with a wide audience, especially among young people. The app allows users to create videos up to 3 minutes long, often featuring music, lip-syncing, dancing, comedy skits, and other forms of expressive performances.
Source : Engadget
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