The Wall Street Journal reports ByteDance — the Chinese-based company that owns social media giant TikTok — is valued at $300 billion.
With approximately one billion users worldwide — including upwards of 135 million or more in the U.S. — TikTok is regarded as one of the most popular social media platforms on the planet.
The Wall Street Journal reports,
The [$300 billion] valuation came in a recent buyback offer by ByteDance, according to people familiar with the offer, and suggests the company expects its growth to continue. A law signed by President Biden earlier this year would ban TikTok in the U.S. unless ByteDance divests itself of the app by mid-January.
The article goes on to highlight the political turmoil surrounding TikTok and ByteDance.
ByteDance is headquartered in China, and has come under fire time and again for serving kids a steady “diet of darkness” on TikTok while also struggling to protect private user data from entities in China, such as the Chinese Communist Party.
Authorities in Canada recently ordered TikTok to stop operating in the country, citing national security concerns.
In September the Wall Street Journal highlighted how TikTok let accounts linked to the Chinese government spread misleading content targeting U.S. voters ahead of the 2024 election.
And earlier this year the U.S. Department of Justice sued TikTok for allegedly violating federal laws intended to protect children online.
Stories like these — and others — have raise serious concerns about TikTok’s operations.
Last year Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin filed two lawsuits against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance.
The A.G.’s lawsuits allege that TikTok and ByteDance failed to fully disclose that the company is subject to Chinese laws that mandate cooperation with intelligence activities of the People’s Republic of China and that TikTok aggressively collects sensitive user data. The lawsuits are ongoing in state court.
As we keep saying, social media platforms are not just websites or phone apps. These are multibillion dollar corporations owned and operated by investors and other interests. The fact that ByteDance is now valued at $300 billion and counting underscores just how powerful these tech giants have become.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
