China Refuses to Accept 'Theft' of TikTok if US Acquisition Goes Ahead

[jpn]

what is illegal about one company buying another?

a little bit odd not being able to see how irregular this is:

1 trump (without justification) declares that HE will not allow this company to operate in the USA.
2 HE then tells Microsoft that HE will ALLOW microsoft to buy it (but no other company can make bids??)
3 HE tells Microsoft the they need to give money to the USA treasury in order to be allowed to buy it.
4 without blinking an eye Microsoft agrees to this

unusual?
what right does the USA treasury have to ANY money from this transaction?
what right does trump the dictator have to grant a monopoly to microsoft?

what is unusual is not being able to see just what is going down here.

 

[lkrupp]

Interesting how many CCP operatives are members here in MacRumors. Anymore questions as to whether TikTok is beholding to the CCP dictatorship?

 

[iReality85]

That’s not illegal. What’s illegal is the Us forcing another countries company to sell to the US... Grindr was a Chinese company that the US forced to be sold to the US

It's not illegal in the least. Who is invested in and who has influence inside foreign-owned companies is actually of very real concern, China or otherwise, and this is overseen by the US government's Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS).

https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/15/a...ompany-forced-to-divest-of-chinese-investors/

"Historically, CFIUS’s focus has been on things like ports, computer systems and real estate adjacent to military bases, but in recent years its emphasis has included data as a national security threat. The Grindr and PatientsLikeMe actions underscore that CFIUS is more focused than ever on how data can pose a security threat.

For example, the U.S. government’s move against Grindr was reportedly motivated by concerns the Chinese government could blackmail individuals with security clearances or its location data could help unmask intelligence agents. These developments make CFIUS highly relevant to tech and healthcare startups, which frequently hold valuable data about customers and users."

And as far as Grindr is concerned, I'm glad they were made to divest.

 

[ruka.snow]

Interesting how many CCP operatives are members here in MacRumors. Anymore questions as to whether TikTok is beholding to the CCP dictatorship?

You are just assuming that people against the US president being a **** are also okay with what is going on in China?

 

[Jyby]

I would say that they don't need it. They lure us with cheap prices, 24/7 production without unions and virtually zero workers rights, and the impression of low bureaucracy. Admittedly, they're playing the smart game.

Sure but China is an age behind the US... The US had slaves and no unions too... Just because one group of peoples is “woke”, progressive or has rights currently- doesn’t mean another group of people have to catch up or as a society ready for that...

 

[russell_314]

My kids all suffer from bone spurs

Yeah let me know how that works when the war is actually here and not some silly "police action"

 

[barkomatic]

I'm glad that there is *finally* a serious competitor to Facebook which actually brings people dynamic content rather than the endlessly negative Facebook posts I see every day. I just wish that competitor wasn't a Chinese owned company of course.

I hope the Microsoft acquisition goes through as I'd hate to see all the creators on TikTok once again under the boot of Mark Zuckerberg if they all move over to instagram.

If the sale doesn't goes through and social media is further consolidated under Zuckerberg the next step is to break up Facebook. This monopoly can't stand.

 

[Jyby]

Interesting how many CCP operatives are members here in MacRumors. Anymore questions as to whether TikTok is beholding to the CCP dictatorship?

I wonder how China retaliates- Force Apple to sell to China- because China fears Apple us spying on China for US... Same argument as TikTok..

 

[tn-xyz]

A billion people aren't out to get you. People in China want to build their businesses and livelihoods the same as anyone else in the world. They are not some evil force out to get you and anything you post on flipping Tiktok is more likely interesting to marking than national intelligence. Be more concerned about Facebook and other USA based companies that have already been caught.

it’s interesting to see what you make out of my comment.

it’s also interesting and more so hypocritical of china to talk about theft when they copy and thereby steal intellectual property, and have been doing so for years. i’m not talking about tiktok. it’s called shanzhai.

 

[Ansath]

If Facebook can access your microphone, you should expect TikTok to be capable of doing the same. If TikTok reaches the numbers of Facebook and Instagram, then it’ll be installed on a lot of smartphones.

It’s like a Trojan Horse, but instead using it for Instagram ads, they’re using it to serve China’s purposes.

So, you’re ok with Facebook doing all that, but have issues with TikTok?

 

[Jyby]

I'm glad that there is *finally* a serious competitor to Facebook which actually brings people dynamic content rather than the endlessly negative Facebook posts I see every day. I just wish that competitor wasn't a Chinese owned company of course.

I hope the Microsoft acquisition goes through as I'd hate to see all the creators on TikTok once again under the boot of Mark Zuckerberg if they all move over to instagram.

If the sale doesn't goes through and social media is further consolidated under Zuckerberg the next step is to break up Facebook. This monopoly can't stand.

Sounds like you don’t believe in competition- what’s wrong with China owning it?

 

[FaustsHausUK]

Both the Chinese and American governments are run by idiots, and we all suffer for it. There’s nobody in this story who is defensible.

 

[aforty]

It just boggles my mind how some people do not even think China is the greatest threat to the world and freedom in general. You would think Hong Kong would have been a sufficient warning sign, but nope, I guess the world is mostly full of stupid people.

You mean bigger than the United States demonstratively already is? I don’t think so.

 

[russell_314]

Interesting how many CCP operatives are members here in MacRumors. Anymore questions as to whether TikTok is beholding to the CCP dictatorship?

Do you seriously think the Chinese government cares about silly posts in these forms.. Just because someone doesn’t agree with you all the sudden they're a CCP operative. That’s getting pretty deep in the tinfoil range

 

[Ansath]

Sounds like you don’t believe in competition- what’s wrong with China owning it?

Some people have pointed to the clipboard access notifications on iOS 14 as being why, but then don’t have an issue with the fact that Microsoft doing the same with LinkedIn and Teams. 🤨

 

[Jyby]

It's not illegal in the least. Who is invested in and who has influence inside foreign-owned companies is actually of very real concern, China or otherwise, and this is overseen by the US government's Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS).

https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/15/a...ompany-forced-to-divest-of-chinese-investors/

"Historically, CFIUS’s focus has been on things like ports, computer systems and real estate adjacent to military bases, but in recent years its emphasis has included data as a national security threat. The Grindr and PatientsLikeMe actions underscore that CFIUS is more focused than ever on how data can pose a security threat.

For example, the U.S. government’s move against Grindr was reportedly motivated by concerns the Chinese government could blackmail individuals with security clearances or its location data could help unmask intelligence agents. These developments make CFIUS highly relevant to tech and healthcare startups, which frequently hold valuable data about customers and users."

And as far as Grindr is concerned, I'm glad they were made to divest.

Just because you have a committee that says it’s legal or justified.. doesn’t make it so- especially internationally.. This is why we need international courts and laws for these kinds of issues

 

[Jyby]

Some people have pointed to the clipboard access notifications on iOS 14 as being why, but then don’t have an issue with the fact that Microsoft doing the same with LinkedIn and Teams. 🤨

Or Instagram... They are worried about China taking the video.. BUT China could just download the public video for AI Machine Learning if they wanted... I don’t even think the data is that valuable except for face detection which is pretty close to perfect these days anyways

 

[russell_314]

Some people have pointed to the clipboard access notifications on iOS 14 as being why, but then don’t have an issue with the fact that Microsoft doing the same with LinkedIn and Teams. 🤨

The last thing I heard about this said it was caused by Google advertising in the app. This is why it effected so many apps

 

[JPSaltzman]

Okay, I know it's difficult to keep up, and I really don't understand all this tit-for-tat crap that's he's been getting away with for the past 3-1/2 years, or what he's soiling his underwear over, let alone trying to understand the logic behind his temper tantrums..... but in all sincerity, would someone here rationally and calmly explain to me, "What does the U.S. Treasury have to do with this?!"

 

[Ansath]

The last thing I heard about this said it was caused by Google advertising in the app. This is why it effected so many apps

that won’t apply to Teams, which doesn’t have advertising.

 

[ksec]

a little bit odd not being able to see how irregular this is:

1 trump (without justification) declares that HE will not allow this company to operate in the USA.
2 he then tells Microsoft that HE will allow microsoft to buy it (but no other company can make bids??)
3 he tells Microsoft the they need to give money to the USA treasury in order to be allowed to buy it.
4 without blinking an eye Microsoft agrees to this

unusual?
what right does the USA treasury have to ANY money from this transaction?
what right does trump the dictator have to grant a monopoly to microsoft?

what is unusual is not being able to see just what is going down here.

I dont know. But CNN explains it better than I could.

Trump says he will ban TikTok

President Donald Trump said Friday night that he will ban the popular short-form video app TikTok from operating in the United States, rejecting a potential deal for Microsoft to buy the app from its Chinese-owned parent company.

edition.cnn.com

And it reads nothing like Trump is trying to force Tik Tok selling to Microsoft.

Of course, as is typical of trump, he is being extremely cocky about it.

 

[patent10021]

Curious. How does an app or a company that's Chinese get bought only in the US and how is it that ByteDance who maintains the codebase, simply cannot refuse to sell it? Can't ByteDance just say F-U and pull it's own app from whatever store it wants?

 

[twolf2919]

Then let the Chinese Communist Party explain why the US should have ever passively accepted their ban on Twitter and Facebook within China. Long past time to complete the decoupling and reorient our supply chains towards India and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

I don't recall China asking those companies to be broken up and sold to Chinese companies. Could you point us to a factual link? Also, there's a difference between outright not allowing/banning something because it violates national rules (if you don't agree to those rules, don't do business here) and allowing something at first and then changing your mind. The US government had no problem with TikTok doing business in the US. Only when it became politically convenient for Trump - anything to distract from the 150,000+ covid deaths his incompetence has cost thus far - did they start making noises about an unproven 'national security threat'.

 

[ksec]

Curious. How does an app or a company that's Chinese get bought only in the US and how is it that ByteDance who maintains the codebase, simply cannot refuse to sell it? Can't ByteDance just say F-U and pull it's own app from whatever store it wants?

They can. And operate without US. It is entirely up to them.

 

[JosephAW]

Wondering when all this data collection will turn and bite those who use TikTok?
After they pull those things from our cold fingers of those who resisted and then vote in their leaders who embrace china's social credit score system in the USA and say to those who are remain: "Way back in 2020 here's a video and face recognition verified of you admitting a non-state approved word by saying "omg", you are now banned from traveling or owning a vehicle for life."