The U.S. government is moving ever closer to banning TikTok, a move that would affect more than just TikTok.
As Mashable reported over the weekend, the House of Representatives passed an updated one Version of the ban with bipartisan support. If it makes it to President Biden’s desk, Biden has signaled he will sign it into law, effectively banning TikTok in the US unless China-based parent company ByteDance sells the platform.
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However, it is not only TikTok users who are affected by such a ban. This bill paves the way for the US to potentially ban many other foreign-based apps or platforms as well. As Axios notes that the bill’s language prohibits any app that the U.S. government considers to be an “application controlled by a foreign adversary,” and also includes apps that “directly or indirectly (including through a parent, subsidiary, or affiliate). )” are operated by these companies. foreign opponents.
Last month, Mashable shared some examples of apps that could potentially be affected by this bill if it becomes law, such as WeChat or even shopping platforms like Temu or AliExpress. Although the bill’s broad language means a range of companies and apps could be affected, TikTok and its parent company ByteDance are the only parties named.
And as Axios reports, it seems pretty clear that if TikTok is banned in the US, ByteDance’s other app offerings will likely decline as well.
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Goodbye to CapCut, Lemon8, Lark and more?
While TikTok is the app that ByteDance is best known for, the company has launched a variety of other platforms and applications over the years that have also become very popular in their target markets.
For example, CapCut has become a very popular video editing app on both mobile and desktop computers. Many viral videos on TikTok and beyond are created using CapCut. YouTubers looking for a quick and easy video editing tool have also used CapCut for long-form videos. However, CapCut is owned by ByteDance and could well be banned if TikTok were. The same applies to ByteDance’s photo editing app Hypical.
lark is a business productivity app suite that includes documents, chat, messaging, and more. It’s basically ByteDance’s version of Google Workspace and the company even uses it internally for its own business. However, under the US TikTok ban law, Lark could also be banned.
In addition to its extremely popular social video platform, ByteDance operates a Pinterest-like social media platform called Lemon8 which is quite popular in the lifestyle and wellness community. Of all ByteDance’s apps, Lemon8 is probably the closest to TikTok, which could get it banned in the US
Other ByteDance apps available in the US such as the AI Study Companion app. Gauth And Sound ona music distribution and royalties platform for artists, could also be banned.
If the TikTok ban law actually comes into effect, it is unclear what exactly would happen next. According to the law, ByteDance would essentially have to separate from TikTok and sell the company within a year. But TikTok is allegedly We are preparing for litigation to fight the law if it is actually passed. Therefore, it could be quite a while before ByteDance has to sell the app, if this is indeed the case.