The Chinese government has purchased a stake in TikTok’s parent company: TikTok is among the biggest social media platforms available on the internet. The app for sharing videos has more than 1 billion users across the globe and, in the year that passed. It dethroned Google as the top internet-based web-based domain.
However, the site was also the source of controversy when former US President Donald Trump attempted to ban the app. Due to perceived threats to national security.
The debate could resurface after the Chinese government is interested in TikTok’s leading company ByteDance.
Although this ownership split isn’t likely to affect the TikTok application or the user experience, it’s one aspect of a substantial push for more government control over China’s expanding technology industry.
It’s important to remember that the stake held by China of ByteDance remains tiny, giving the state only a single percent stake in the business. However, the Chinese government has more direct control than the small stake it holds indicates.
The company’s subsidiary, Beijing ByteDance Technology Co. Ltd., runs an application known as Douyin, which acts as the nation’s regional version of TikTok. Along with their share-ownership of the company, the Chinese government now controls one of three places on the company’s board of directors.
Although the Chinese government has exercised a stringent level of censorship on social media for a long time, this new arrangement gives the government an unprecedented degree of direct control over the company’s decisions.
The Chinese government has purchased a stake in TikTok’s parent company
It isn’t the only instance of ByteDance showing a close connection in China. Chinese government. In the year 2019, The Washington Post reported that a search for #HongKong on TikTok produced only a few results that related to the ongoing protests that were taking place in the city.
The newspaper also reported that TikTok enforced strict rules on users’ speech. But, ByteDance pushed back against both allegations. It claims that it has an American moderation team responsible for setting its US policy on moderation without Chinese government involvement.
ByteDance further claimed that the lack of protest videos was because users visit TikTok to enjoy apolitical, fun content.
But, ByteDance denies that the Chinese government’s company ownership will cause any modifications to TikTok.
The spokesperson for the company Hilary McQuaide declined to comment specifically on the Chinese government’s relationship. With the company but claimed that it “isn’t pertinent” in the context of TikTok. But, it could cause American policymakers to look for additional reviews of the heavily scrutinized video-sharing site.
A judge has blocked the president’s TikTok restriction, American political leaders remain skeptical of the platform.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Duke University’s Matt Perault indicated. That China’s stake in ByteDance does not automatically mean it poses an additional security risk.
But the perception of risk could cause US officials to take further actions in opposition to ByteDance or ByteDance generally. “Scrutiny and doubts regarding Chinese companies working inside the US is a bipartisan matter,” said Perault.
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