ByteDance investors could win in TikTok sale says US lawmaker amid pressure to ban app over China espionage concerns
- ‘It would be in the financial interest of ByteDance’s investors to effectuate a forced sale,’ said congressman Mike Gallagher
- Efforts to remove Chinese corporate influence over social-media platform is back on US political agenda in an election year
Investors in TikTok’s Chinese parent company stand to benefit if it sold the app because divestment would remove a source of uncertainty, a US Republican lawmaker said.
Efforts to remove Chinese corporate influence over the popular social-media platform is back on the political agenda in an election year.
At least two US senators voiced support in principle for the bill on Sunday, though it faces a slower process in the chamber after winning bipartisan backing in the House last week on concern over Chinese government influence on the American public.
“I think the user experience on the app would improve and you wouldn’t have this concern over being propagandised, the opaque algorithm influencing the information you see,” he said. “That would go away, so I imagine it would actually increase in value.”
