Canadian businessman and investor Kevin O’Leary has offered TikTok’s owners $20 billion in cash to buy the platform.
This comes in response to a bipartisan bill signed by President Biden, which labeled TikTok a national security threat. The law requires ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to divest from the platform or sell it to remain in American app stores. ByteDance’s deadline is Sunday.
On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled on TikTok’s challenge to the law, upholding the ban.
During a Friday appearance on an American television show O’Leary raised the issue of fines that could be imposed on any provider that allows access to TikTok after the deadline, Sunday January 19, 2025.
“As of midnight on the 19th, any service provider—whether it’s Apple, Oracle, or a video compression technology company being paid as a consulting service—any of them that keep this thing alive is subject to a $5,000-a-day fine times 170 million,” O’Leary said. “That’s over a billion dollars a day.”
O’Leary also noted the uncertainty surrounding whether an President Donald Trump who is coming into office on Monday January 20, could use executive order to override the law, if he so wished. “There’s a case in 1937 that was used successfully, but you don’t know,” he said.
Trump himself has over 14 million followers on TikTok and does not appear to favour the ban. But he has asked for time to “review the situation” after he assumes office.
O’Leary said he had offered $20 billion to buy the social media platform, which boasts 170 million U.S. users. “Right now, $20 billion is on the table, cash, cash, $20 billion,” O’Leary braggadociously remarked, touting his bid after the call-in. He said he’s waiting to see if the offer is enough.
Supreme Court Upheld Ban
The Supreme Court’s decision followed warnings from the Biden administration that TikTok posed a “grave” national security threat due to its ties to China. The ruling effectively means the ban starts on Sunday.
However, there are many lingering questions about how the ban would work in practice, as there’s no precedent for the U.S. government blocking a major social media platform. How exactly the government would enforce it remains unclear.
TikTok has been a subject of national security concerns for years. U.S. officials have expressed worries about TikTok’s collection of data on US citizens, collection practices nd the app’s links with China. The government fears that such information could be accessed by the Chinese government, posing a security risk to America.
TikTok has flatly denied any connection with Chinese government, but that has fallen on deaf ears of the American Congress..
In response to the ruling, TikTok stated that it would “go dark” for U.S. users on Sunday unless the Biden administration provides a definitive statement assuring non-enforcement of the ban.
All that it up to Trump now!
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