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Leading social platform TikTok has become one of the most downloaded and used apps around the world with growing interest in the U.S.
Facing security concerns with links to China, the app faces a potential ban in the U.S. Here’s what Benzinga followers think could happen.
What Happened: Owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance, TikTok is a short-form video platform in the social media sector.
TikTok has faced challenges from U.S. regulators and calls are growing from governing bodies to ban the platform. The FCC asked Alphabet Inc GOOGGOOGL and Apple Inc AAPL to ban TikTok from its Google Play Store and iOS App Store, respectively.
Concerns around TikTok have increased with reports of links to the Chinese government with ByteDance hiring former employees of Chinese state media publications.
One company that could benefit if TikTok is banned is Meta Platforms Inc META, the owner of Facebook and Instagram.
Loup Ventures’ Gene Munster recently said TikTok is a “political punching bag” and that Reels, videos on Facebook and Instagram, could see a benefit if TikTok is banned.
“We think that Reels is going to get on its feet. We think TikTok eventually is going to get banned, give it two years. It’s not going to be around for the long haul,” Munster said.
Munster pointed to Facebook being banned in China over concerns of Western influence. Munster sees a similar approach soon taken by the U.S.
“We are going into a presidential election. There are going to be themes that both sides of the aisle are going to rally around and I think separation from China theme is going to be a common theme.”
TikTok has around 80 million users in the U.S. and around 1 billion worldwide users, making it one of the largest social media platforms and video sites globally.
Microsoft Corporation MSFT previously tried to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations but was rejected by ByteDance. Oracle Corporation ORCL is a partner with ByteDance on the handling of data on TikTok from U.S. users.
Related Link: TikTok Parent Looks To Buy Back $3B Shares As Its IPO Failed To Materialize
Benzinga Asks: Benzinga regularly polls its followers on social media platform Twitter Inc TWTR.
A recent poll asked, “Do you think TikTok could eventually get banned in the U.S.?
The results were:
Yes: 63.8%
No: 17.4%
Don’t Know, Don’t Care: 18.8%
More than 60% of Benzinga followers who voted think TikTok could be banned in the U.S. A small percentage voted that TikTok will not be banned.
The consensus here could point to the app being banned some time in the future with the big question being “When?” and not “If.”
Follow Benzinga on Twitter to join in on the latest polls.
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Image and article originally from www.benzinga.com. Read the original article here.