A group of TikTok creators has filed suit to block the law that could ban the app while TikTok itself and parent company ByteDance have also filed a similar lawsuit
The video-sharing app will use specially-created software that is also set to be adopted by Alphabet’s Google and Meta Platforms’ Instagram and Facebook
The app, Lemon8, is known for its ‘blog-style’ posts and is seen as a platform for photos, rather than videos
Experts say that if a sale of TikTok does go through, it would be one of the most complicated and expensive transactions in history, requiring months if not years of due diligence
The popular video-sharing app’s owner will be told to sell its stake in nine months or see it banned from the United States
The US Justice Department also said the bill forcing ByteDance to divest TikTok would put the government in a stronger legal position than if the app was simply banned
TikTok and US representatives took shots at each other over everything from whether a new bill calls for a ban on the app to whether the ByteDance-backed firm should call on its users to push back against it
The European Union has opened a formal investigation into the video-sharing platform over possible online content breaches
The Chinese app features micro-series like ‘Never Divorce a Secret Billionaire Heiress’, which consists of 55 two-minute episodes
Jakarta said the ban, which is effective immediately, is intended to protect its offline merchants and marketplaces
TikTok said it disagreed with the decision and the size of the fine – and that it had addressed most of the regulator’s concerns before it launched its probe
The China-owned short video app was used by 20% of 18-to 24-year-olds for news, up five percentage points from last year