TikTok has been in the news for a while now. With the heat the company has been taking these past few weeks, we doubt anyone would want to be on the company’s board of directors.
For those who are not in the loop of this conversation, don’t sweat it. We’d give you a recap.
Recap of the TikTok saga
TikTok has been under fire by Trump’s administration over suspicions of shady activities. Trump’s administration believes that TikTok’s Chinese-based parent company ByteDance is stealing data from Americans.
TikTok has, however, denied these allegations.
Trump also threatened to ban TikTok in the United States if it does not sell a part of its market to an American organization. The threat to the company pushed Microsoft to try and purchase TikTok, which is worth about $30 billion.
TikTok now plans to sue the US government for cutting its US operations off at the knees.
Now that you’re all caught up!
The fate of TikTok now rests in the hands of two men who can’t seem to make a decision. These men are Donald Trump’s advisors, treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin and trade adviser, Peter Navarro.
Trump’s Advisor: Peter Navarro
According to a Washington Post report, the two men had a loud tirade with each other in front of President Trump. It happened to be centred around the indecisiveness of the future of the social media video platform.
Navarro thinks TikTok deserves a full-on ban. In light of his opinion, he further accused Mnuchin of being soft on China in their row.
Based on the Washington Post report, Mnuchin believes that TikTok should be sold to Microsoft, as we earlier stated.
He also feels that if the company is negligent in selling a part of its market to Microsoft, any other American company will suffice. But it must be sold regardless.
Talks on whether TikTok should be banned or not have been ongoing since July.
The pressure on TikTok
The pressure on TikTok has increased as Trump made a harsh decision on the 7th of this month. He ordered American companies not to do business with TikTok.
The deadline for these companies to cut ties with the video-sharing app is the 20th of September, 2020. The only positive about this timeframe for TikTok is that it offers the company the chance to finish its negotiations with Microsoft and other bidders on the table.
and then