The Beijing company ByteDance, which owns TikTok, would rather close its social network in the United States than sell it. The company is currently using all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the United States. Reuters reports this with a link to its sources.
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Video recommendation algorithms, which TikTok relies on in its work, are considered key to all ByteDance activities, Which makes the sale of the algorithm-powered app highly unlikely, sources close to the parent company say.
TikTok accounts for a small share of ByteDance's total revenue and daily active users, they said. Therefore, the parent company, in a worst-case scenario, would rather shut down the US app than sell it to a potential US buyer.
The closure would have a limited impact on ByteDance's business, while the company would not have to abandon its core algorithm.
In a statement posted on media platform Toutiao, which is owned by ByteDance, the company said it has no plans to sell TikTok, in response to The Information article that ByteDance is exploring scenarios for selling its US business TikTok without an algorithm that recommends videos to TikTok users.
Recall
The Ministry of Finance wrote that on April 24, US President Joe Biden signed a bill that could lead to a nationwide ban on TikTok.