TikTok: social network banned in the U.S.

Yesterday, the US House of Representatives passed by a majority the bill to force the sale of the TikTok app for "national security reasons".

TikTok: forced to be sold?

Last week, a bill was introduced to force TikTok into US ownership. The aim of this (highly debatable) proposal is to limit the influence of websites and applications said to be "owned by foreign adversaries".

Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 352 to 65 in favor of the bill. In order to finalize its implementation, it must now be submitted to the Senate, before being presented directly to Joe Biden.

What's in store for TikTok?

Generally speaking, if the bill succeeds, the TikTok application should hardly undergo any changes. On the other hand, for the Chinese company, which has never hidden its desire to retain its Chinese shareholding, this is a real battle lost.

For now, ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, is preparing to counter the proposal:

"This process was secret, and the bill was blocked for one reason: it's a ban. We hope the Senate will look at the facts, listen to its constituents and realize the impact on the economy, on 7 million small businesses and on the 170 million Americans who use our services." explains the company.

TikTok sold, a windfall for Meta?

In the war between TikTok and Instagram, it's clear that Meta has a lot to gain if the bill is officially adopted in the United States.

Mike ProulxForrester's Vice President and Research Director, explains:

"Despite increased antitrust measures in Congress, the TikTok ban will give an effective monopoly to Meta's Reels - the company's short-form video product. Forrester's Youth in 2023 survey revealed an 11-point year-on-year increase in the use of Instagram's Reels: nearly a third (30%) of American teens now use Reels at least once a week. In the absence of TikTok, users will flock to Reels - leaving YouTube Shorts as the only competitor. This means that Meta is the likely beneficiary of TikTok's advertising revenues in a world without TikTok."

It remains to be seen how TikTok will respond to the US government's measures.