Time up for TikTok?
Today marks the day (Thursday 11/12) TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has been ordered by Trump’s Committee on Foreign investment in the United States to divest itself of all its U.S. assets. The Trump camp has suggested for a long time that TikTok data is being harvested by the Chinese government and poses a threat to privacy and user information. The governmental committee (CFIUS) hasn’t said what the repercussions will be, just that it must divest. Trump has effectively ghosted the company, offering no direction as to how to proceed, though he did signal he was open to the company partnering with Oracle and WalMart. TikTok has asked for the United States Court of Appeals to intervene to clarify the government’s position. At one point, the threat (and you can decide for yourself if it would have taken place or not) was that if TikTok wouldn’t voluntarily leave the marketplace, ISPs would be instructed to block the app’s use. Is this government over reach or is it neccessary to act aggressively in the name of security? Political grandstanding or a legitimate threat? What are your thoughts?
