by Julia Shapero at The Hill
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick warned Thursday that TikTok will go dark unless China agrees to a deal in which American owners take control of the popular social media app and its algorithm.
“It’s got to come out of Chinese control,” Lutnick told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.” “We’ve made the decision. You can’t have Chinese control and have something on a hundred million American phones. That’s just not OK.”
“So, if it’s in American control, China can have a little piece, or ByteDance, the current owner, can keep a little piece,” he continued. “But basically Americans will have control, Americans will own the technology and Americans will control the algorithm.”
TikTok has remained online for the past seven months despite a law requiring its parent company ByteDance to divest from the app or face a U.S. ban. The law, passed by Congress last year, was meant to go into effect the day before President Trump took office.
However, former President Biden declined to enforce the law in…
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