TikTok is currently weathering a perfect storm of EU probes and national bans. Currently, the video-sharing website faces a ban in the United States unless its parent company, ByteDance, sells it to another firm. Well, it appears that TikTok has more than just the US government to worry about. According to a new report, TikTok also faces a ban in Europe.
Recently, US President Joe Biden signed a bill stating that TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, needs to divest from the company in order for the app to continue operations in the United States. So, if the company does not comply, then the app will be erased from the states. For the time being, we’re still waiting to see the outcome of this case.
TikTok faces a ban in Europe
Along with the drama going on in the United States, TikTok could also be in hot water with Europe. During the debate in Maastricht, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that a TikTok ban in Europe “is not excluded.” After that, she said that the commission was “the very first institution worldwide to ban TikTok on our corporate phones.” This means that the commission is aware of the dangers associated with TikTok.
So, if this goes any further, then TikTok May have something to worry about. The company could stand to lose a huge fraction of its users if both the US and Europe block it. However, if ByteDance does sell TikTok in order to appease the governments, then that company will lose a lot of money. This means that ByteDance is in a bit of a conundrum.
Right now, we don’t know the outcome of these actions. Also, we can’t take Leyen’s statement as proof that Europe is going to ban the app. This just means that the possibility is not out of the cards.
TikTok is already in hot water with a European government. It’s currently dealing with a probe from the European government because of a reward system with the TikTok Lite app.
Not everyone is against TikTok
While Leyen hinted at considering a ban, there are other people who weren’t quite on the same side. Liberal ALDE party lead candidate, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, said that they will have to “see what happens there” with TikTok. So, this is just a testament to how nuanced this whole situation is, and we expect it will be a while before we see any sweeping changes.