This wouldn't be the first time that the US Government forced a sale of a company because it's owned by China. This happened in 2019 with Grindr[1], and no one really cared or noticed. The language being used here isn't even correct, since this isn't a "ban". There was a bill a year or two ago that would've done that explicitly, but it didn't really go anywhere. Should this bill pass, it puts other companies in the position of complying (Apple, Google etc) by removing it from the store if Bytedance doesn't actually sell the thing.<p>All of this seems eminently reasonable to me, and it's a massive credit to TikTok that they've managed to cloud the language we use to discuss this topic. Unfortunately for them, that activity is probably pushing people on the fence into the YES camp.<p>Side note: outright banning it seems wrong to me, for reasons I find hard to articulate so I'm not really wedded to that position. Then again, I watch some of these videos from people hyperventilating like a drug addict over this and then I think "nevermind, ban it yesterday".<p>[1] <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/04/03/why-is-us-is-forcing-chinese-company-sell-gay-dating-app-grindr/" rel="nofollow">https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/04/03/why-is-us...</a>
Bolt take considering this is no different than what China has been doing to the west for decades.<p><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/14/tech/china-reactions-tiktok-potential-ban-intl-hnk/index.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/14/tech/china-reactions-tiktok-p...</a>