Chinese social media video application TIkTok is under pressure from the Biden administration to dilute ownership or face a possible ban in the United States, a move that would hurt American business owners and internet users, the company’s CEO says.
As reported by TimCast, Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok, will argue to federal officials that the platform is too integral to the fabric of American internet users to break up.
“Almost half of the U. S.” uses TikiTok, the CEO said in a video, saying users “connect, to create, to share, to learn or just to have some fun.”
Chew also asked viewers what they “want [their] elected representative to know about [what they] love about TikTok.”
The site has 150 million monthly American users, with an estimated 92% of those users over the age of 18. The CEO estimates that 5 million small- and medium-sized businesses use the platform to promote themselves and rely on it as a generator of leads or income.
Chew also argued that TikTok employs 7,000 employees in the United States, with a statement from the company explaining how important the platform is for “educating” children.
“TikTok creators are small business owners trying to make a living and put food on their tables, teachers educating the next generation of leaders, and everyday innovators who represent the breadth of America,” TikTok spokesperson Jamal Brown said in a statement to NBC News.
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