After Biden signs TikTok ban into law, ByteDance says it won't sell

ByteDance, nan China-based proprietor of TikTok, said it doesn't person plans to waste nan societal media work successful nan aftermath of a new law that requires it either to divest ownership of nan celebrated app wrong 12 months, aliases look a U.S. ban.

On Thursday, ByteDance posted a connection connected Toutiao, a Chinese societal media work which it owns, refuting reports that nan institution is considering trading TikTok. Such reports are "untrue," it wrote.

It added, "ByteDance does not person immoderate plans to waste TikTok."

The connection comes two-days after President Joe Biden signed nan TikTok divest-or-ban measurement into law and a time afterTikTok connected Thursday vowed to conflict nan caller rule successful nan courts. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said successful a video posted to nan work that "the facts and nan Constitution are connected our side." He added that TikTok expects "to prevail again," referring to Montana's grounded effort to prohibition nan app, which was blocked in November by a national judge.

The stance from TikTok and ByteDance is mounting up a conflict betwixt nan exertion companies and U.S. lawmakers complete nan early of nan video app, known for its addictive never-ending scrolling. Lawmakers passed nan prohibition rule retired of interest complete ByteDance's ties to China, including fearfulness that ByteDance aliases TikTok could stock information astir U.S. users pinch China's authoritarian government. 

"The thought that we would springiness nan Communist Party this overmuch of a propaganda tool, arsenic good arsenic nan expertise to scrape 170 cardinal Americans' individual data, it is simply a nationalist information risk," Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, said connected CBS' "Face nan Nation," earlier this month. 

ByteDance's station connected Toutiao included a screenshot of a headline from a tech-focused business publication called The Information that read, "ByteDance exploring options for trading TikTok without algorithm." In a station written successful Mandarin, ByteDance stamped nan Chinese characteristic for "rumor" complete nan headline. 

The Information didn't instantly return a petition for remark from CBS MoneyWatch. 

In a connection to CBS News, TikTok said, "The Information communicative is inaccurate. The rule Congress passed and nan President signed was designed to person a predetermined outcome: a prohibition connected TikTok."

Already banned successful immoderate countries

TikTok is already banned in a fistful of countries and from government-issued devices successful a number of others, owed to charismatic worries that nan app poses privateness and cybersecurity concerns. Countries that person instituted partial aliases afloat bans see India, wherever it has been nationally banned since 2021, and Canada, wherever devices issued by nan national authorities aren't allowed to person nan app.

It's besides not disposable successful mainland China, a truth that CEO Chew has mentioned successful grounds to U.S. lawmakers. ByteDance instead offers Chinese users Douyin, a akin video-sharing app that follows Beijing's strict censorship rules. TikTok besides ceased operations successful Hong Kong aft a sweeping Chinese nationalist information rule took effect.

—With reporting by nan Associated Press.

In:
• TikTok