ByteDance, TikTok’s mother company, will rather shut down its app in the United States (US) rather than sell, a new report has revealed.
This is in response to the legal challenges TikTok’s parent company has been facing in the US as regards legislation seeking to ban the platform or sell it to an American buyer.
Read also: U.S. House passes bill to ban, sell TikTok
However, according to new reports, it is unlikely for TikTok to be sold at all because some of the algorithms that would be shut down with TikTok are crucial to ByteDance’s overall operations.
Reuters reports that the algorithm that powers TikTok’s operations is a crucial component of ByteDance’s overall business, making a sale highly improbable.
US President Joe Biden recently signed into law a bill seeking to ban the social media app in the country. The law was introduced due to concerns that TikTok might share user data with the Chinese government — a claim the company has denied.
Although TikTok only contributes a small percentage of ByteDance’s overall income and daily active users, the parent company would prefer to see the app blocked in the US in the worst-case scenario rather than sell it to an American buyer.
Read also: Here’s all you need to know about America impending TikTok ban
ByteDance’s basic algorithm would still be available even if the company were to shut down and the closure would have minimal influence on the company’s revenue. With 170 million American users on TikTok, the US contributed approximately 25 percent to TikTok’s total revenues last year.
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