After the House vote, Chinese officials say the US has shown “robber's logic” toward TikTok, and Washington must “stop unfairly suppressing foreign companies”
TIKTOK IS LESS OF A DANGER TO THE USA THAN META (FACEBOOK!), WHICH IS A TRUE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. Jessica Kwong / Metro.co.uk : Trump's ex-treasury secretary is trying to buy TikTok amid ban threat Molly Bohannon / Forbes : Trump Says TikTok Is ‘Less Of A Danger To The USA’ Than Facebook And Meta Proactive : TikTok ban could have major impact on Meta, Google, and Snap, experts warn Maria Deutscher / SiliconANGLE : Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin assembling consortium to buy TikTok Brandon Sapienza / Bloomberg : Mnuchin Now Wants to Buy TikTok, Days After Leading NYCB Rescue Tom Jowitt / Silicon UK : Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin Gathers Investors To Buy TikTok - Report Caroline Anders / Semafor : The problem with buying TikTok Savannah Hulsey Pointer / NTD : Former Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Says He's Looking to Buy TikTok Thomas Germain / Gizmodo : The Rich Old Men Who Want to Buy TikTok The Economist : Schumer wants Netanyahu out; Mnuchin considers purchasing TikTok Chris Katje / Benzinga : Congress Moves To Ban TikTok: Could Members Benefit From Positions In Social Media Stocks Like Meta Platforms? South China Morning Post : Trump's former US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin preparing investors to buy TikTok: 'it's a great business' Jesse Pound / NBC News : Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is putting together an investor group to buy TikTok Jack Stone Truitt / Nikkei Asia : Mnuchin says he is putting together group to buy TikTok Aaron Brown / GB News : Is this the man who will buy TikTok to save it from a ban in the United States? Jenny Jarvie / Los Angeles Times : Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is assembling an investor group to buy TikTok David Badash / Raw Story : Red flags raised over ex-Trump official's TikTok bid John Callaham / Neowin : There's more interest from groups wanting to buy TikTok, but China may not let that happen Harold Hutchison / The Daily Caller : Trump Treasury Secretary Says He Will ‘Put Together A Group’ To Buy TikTok Rafael Nam / NPR : Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says he's interested in buying TikTok Oman Observer : US preparing buyout of TikTok from Chinese owners Doug Cunningham / UPI : Ex-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin putting together group to buy TikTok Deborah Dan-Awoh / Nairametrics : Former US Sec, Mnuchin eyes TikTok purchase amid legislative pressure Erik Gruenwedel / Media Play News : Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Wants to Buy TikTok Jarin Noshin / International Business Times : Mnuchin-Led Group Seeks TikTok Acquisition Amid Congressional Pressure, Trump Reversal LBC : Ex-US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin ‘forming investor group to buy TikTok’ Todd Spangler / Variety : Trump's Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Wants to Buy TikTok Amid Brewing Threat of U.S. Ban: 'It's a Great Business' Joe St. George / Scrippsnews.com : TikTok lobbies to fight back against potential ban in the US Tom Howell Jr / Washington Times : Ex-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin organizing group to bid for TikTok Thomas Barrabi / New York Post : Ex-Treasury Secretary Mnuchin wants to buy TikTok: 'I'm going to put together a group' PYMNTS.com : Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Aims to Buy TikTok Ciara O'Brien / The Irish Times : Why is TikTok facing a ban in the US? Threads: Karissa / @karissabe : In all the years of China/TikTok rhetoric, no one — to my knowledge — has ever proved that the Chinese govt has manipulated TikTok or obtained user data from it. So many of the dire warnings are based on speculation about something that could *theoretically* happen or straight-up optics (and it's not like no one has been looking). @yasharali : BREAKING Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin tells Andrew Ross Sorkin that he's interested in buying TikTok and is putting a group of investors together. He wouldn't tell Andrew which investors are in his group. Worth noting that former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has also expressed interest in putting a consortium together to buy TikTok. Harrison Starr / @harrisonstarr_ : Bad: China using TikTok to vacuum up user data and spread misinformation and propaganda. Considered A-OK: US billionaires buying up all the social media companies so they can vacuum up user data and spread misinformation and propaganda. Paul Schroder / @texaspaulschroder : And there it is. You knew this whole TikTok crap had to be a grift and move for more right wing trash to take over social media. Jorge Caballero / @datadrivenmd : US House of Representatives: we wish TikTok wasn't owned by a foreign company with ties to authoritarian regimes [finger on a monkey's paw curls] https://www.cnn.com/... Jeff Jarvis / @jeffjarvis : So basically instead of China controlling TikTok, Russia would. Such good work, House. Sherrilyn Ifill / @sherrilynifill : Before Mnuchin is allowed to just re-enter the scene seeking to buy TikTok perhaps we should get some answers on the $1billion he raised from Arab states for his private equity fund while Jared was raising $2 billion immediately after Trump left office. … Nicholas Grossman / @ngrossman81 : Tired: TikTok is a massive data harvesting and propaganda delivery system, and America can't tolerate the Chinese government having that much power in the US. Wired: TikTok is a massive data harvesting and propaganda delivery system, and right-wing rich guys want it for their own purposes. Mastodon: Brian McFadden / @mcfadden@mastodon.social : It's nuts that TikTok can be banned while Fox News rots/has rotted Boomer brains by parasitically profiting off cable carriage fees. X: Chung Ching Kwong / @chungchingkwong : Spoke to @AJInsideStory on US TikTok ban. TikTok is making out like it's casualty of US-China competition when it's been spying on journalists, misleading parliaments, restricting Uyghur content and giving Chinese access to our data. Full interview here https://www.youtube.com/... [video] @nathanlawkc : Good move. PRC-related company ByteDance has overwhelming control over TikTok, and the concern is beyond users' private data. TikTok can be integrated into China's information warfare easily so that the PRC can indirectly control what people see. https://www.bbc.com/... Jonathan Cheng / @jchengwsj : Wang Wenbin: “Though the US has never found...evidence of TikTok posing a threat to the US's national security, it has never stopped going after TikTok...Resorting to hegemonic moves when one could not succeed in fair competition...will eventually backfire.” https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/... @chinadaily : #FMsays The passage of the bill by the US House of Representatives forcing #ByteDance to divest from #TikTok puts the US on the opposite side of the principle of fair competition and international trade rules, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said. [video] Annmarie Hordern / @annmarie : China's foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin: “When someone sees a good thing another person has and tries to take it for themselves, this is entirely the logic of a bandit.” https://www.france24.com/... @yaqiu : Why is TikTok willing to give an interview to the Global Times, the famed CCP mouthpiece? You have to wonder whether TikTok's PR team is just that stupid or it has no choice but to respond to the proposed bill with a bunch of totally counterproductive measures. Selina Wang / @selinawangtv : Even if TikTok bill gets signed into law, will face legal pushback & China would likely block a sale So still long road ahead and unlikely it would actually get banned or sold Some TikTokers tell me this could impact their decision to support Biden in 2024 @ABC [video] Josh Wetzel / @jwetzel : US should just trade US business access to Chinese citizens (e.g. Google Search, Meta, etc.) for China access to US citizens (e.g. Tik Tok). I don't understand why China bans US stuff all the time but the idea of banning Tik Tok nobody talks about that. https://www.ft.com/... Huey Li / @drhueyli : TikTok may be a national security threat, but Trump riding on the TikTok issue to play hero is a bigger and more imminent national security threat. That's all I'm saying. Anupam Chander / @anupamchander : The Chinese government instituted an export control over technologies including algorithms, which many assume includes the power to ban ByteDance from selling the app. Early indications suggest that it might block any sale. 2/ @mfa_china : The #TikTok bill passed by the US House of Representatives puts the US on the wrong side of the principles of fair competition and international trade rules. [image] Anupam Chander / @anupamchander : Lots of folks, including the sponsors of the TikTok bill saying this is not a ban. But the bill itself includes an effective ban if TikTok doesn't sell itself. It's a divest-or-ban bill—and Congressmembers can't predict which of the outcomes will occur. 1/ Jess Miers / @jess_miers : This is precisely my issue with the “it's not a ban” take. Most of the age appropriate design code bills don't expressly ban users under 18, but in practice, they will. Most of the bills aren't even facial recognition bills, but in practice, they are. Dan Primack / @danprimack : It would be much cheaper for $META to try to kill TikTok via lobbying than to pay for TikTok + antitrust legal costs. @alex : no matter your stance on the tiktok issue, this take from the chinese gov is hysterically funny [image] LinkedIn: Siddharth Vishwanathan : Wow. Steve Mnuchin has been keeping busy post his Treasury days with #dealmaker work. For advertisers the outcome of the (potential) law and the public opinion alongside has a lot of significance. … Nomi Prins : This is a timeline of the one about inside access creating outside opportunity. — Back in July 2020, Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin confirmed … Forums: r/China : Former Treasury Secretary Mnuchin is putting together an investor group to buy TikTok r/politics : Former Treasury Secretary Mnuchin is putting together an investor group to buy TikTok r/stupidpol : The TikTok ban is a blatant Zionist power grab: “Former Treasury Secretary Mnuchin is putting together an investor group to buy TikTok” r/Economics : Former Treasury Secretary Mnuchin is putting together an investor group to buy TikTok r/technology : Former Treasury Secretary Mnuchin is putting together an investor group to buy TikTok See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
The Chinese response follows White House backing for a bipartisan divest-or-ban bill, turning a domestic congressional vote into an explicit US-China dispute over ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok. It also revives the broader question of whether country-of-origin rules can become a durable framework for governing large technology platforms.
First-order effects
- Beijing’s public condemnation raises the political stakes for ByteDance as it fights the proposed divest-or-ban measure and for any US investor group exploring a purchase.
- The statement reinforces uncertainty around a forced sale: Chinese government opposition could complicate the path from a US legislative mandate to a transferable TikTok business.
Second-order effects
- Potential buyers, app-store partners, advertisers, and creators face a longer period of contingency planning while TikTok’s US ownership and availability remain unresolved.
- Meta, Google, and Snap could gain audience and advertising share if TikTok is disrupted, though the related coverage also flags that a ban would have wider effects across the digital-ad market.
Third-order effects
- If governments increasingly treat ownership of major consumer platforms as a national-security issue, cross-border technology deals will carry more political approval risk alongside normal antitrust and commercial review.
- The case strengthens the case for a technology-regulation model that applies across national origins, rather than one-off action against individual foreign platforms; whether that principle takes hold remains unsettled.
The trend: TikTok is becoming a prominent test of how governments use market access and ownership rules to assert control over strategically significant digital platforms.