2024-04-23 08:39:09
In the United States, the Senate will examine from this Tuesday, April 23, the bill in favor of banning the Chinese application, already passed by the House of Representatives. If the law passes, its parent company, Bytedance, will certainly go to court to protect one of its most thriving markets.
In 2023, the Chinese application was the most downloaded on the American market. As in 2022. As in 2021. This popularity has exploded its turnover: 16 billion dollars for 2023 according to the Financial Times. This is an estimate because the parent company, Bytedance does not publish its annual results. TikTok which conquered the public with its short videos, today has a billion users around the world. This phenomenal success has made it one of the key players in the digital economy. TikTok claims to support the growth of 7 million American SMEs, creating more than 200,000 jobs in the process. TikTok therefore indirectly contributes to American growth and state tax revenue.
Also read: Is TikTok a danger?
The economic impact of TikTok
These are the arguments used by the Bytedance subsidiary to dissuade elected representatives of Congress from voting against it. A plea based on an impact study carried out by Oxford Economics. TikTok is a catalyst for highly visual activities, such as catering or cosmetics. A third of U.S. businesses surveyed for the study say they rely entirely on the app for their sales. The big brands are also very present on this new media, via influencers. Even the very independent and very powerful Taylor Swift, the most profitable singer in the world, ended up returning to TikTok a few days ago, after she had slammed the door, unhappy with the very low remuneration of the rights to author. TikTok has become essential. But not irreplaceable. If the app were to disappear from American smartphones, competitors, such as Instagram Shopping or Amazon Inspire, could suck up a large part of the users.
The oil stain effect feared by the parent company
TikTok could also survive on American soil, provided that it is sold to American buyers. An option rejected by the parent company. In any case, the Chinese government has a veto over the sale of companies to foreign groups, and it will oppose them. If the ban is confirmed by the Senate vote, TikTok should have a one-year reprieve. Then, it would lose 14% of its users, and especially first-choice users, because their purchasing power is one of the highest in the world. Leaders also fear that this American decision will spread. Other countries are very vigilant on the security and societal aspect.
Yesterday, the European Commission opened an investigation into the Chinese media’s latest discovery: the remuneration of adolescents based on the hours spent on the application. This new “TikTok lite” function is currently in the testing phase in France and Spain; as of Thursday, it could be banned throughout the European Union.
Also read: What is TikTok Lite, the new version of the social network that worries the EU?
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