Former US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is organizing a group of investors to buy TikTok. Yesterday (local time) he said on business channel CNBC that the short video app should be owned by an American company.
But TikTok should not be controlled by big tech companies because that might be a problem in terms of competition law, but it should remain competitive. He said he intends to attract a number of investors, none of whom will be able to control the service alone.
Reprogramming, not erasing
However, the app will have to be reprogrammed in the US using American technology. At the same time, he stressed that it is popular and should not be closed: “Users love it.”
As Treasury Secretary under Donald Trump, Mnuchin was also in charge of the committee that dealt with foreign investment in the United States. Mnuchin said he also had access to information about TikTok that he was unable to discuss publicly.
“Let's say if you had this app on everyone's phone, it could collect incredible amounts of data,” he said. Mnuchin currently serves as President of financial investor Liberty Strategic Capital.
There is currently a bill in the US Congress that could result in TikTok being banned from app stores in the US. ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, is seen in the US as a Chinese company, but the company itself disputes this by pointing out that it is 60% owned by Western investors and is headquartered in the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean.
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