TikTok thanks users as Trump vows to ban app
TikTok has nearly tripled its U.S. workforce to about 1,500 employees over the past year
TikTok thanked its users for their loyalty in a Saturday video, promising that the Chinese-owned app is "not going anywhere," even as U.S. officials discuss a nationwide ban due to security concerns.
President Trump said Friday that his administration would prohibit the service within U.S. borders but did not share any further details. The owner, ByteDance, agreed Saturday to divest its American business in an attempt to continue operating within the world's largest economy, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Sources told FOX Business the day before that ByteDance was looking to sell the short-form video app with more than 2 billion downloads worldwide to Microsoft.
The potential acquisition would give TikTok an opportunity to regain Americans' trust and build on its current success, particularly among young users.
"I want to say thank you to the millions of Americans who use TikTok every day, bringing their creativity and joy into our daily lives," TikTok's U.S. general manager, Vanessa Pappas, said in the video posted Saturday to TikTok and other social media platforms. "We're not going anywhere."
TikTok has nearly tripled its U.S. workforce to about 1,500 employees over the past year and plans to add 10,000 more jobs in the next three years.
TikTok app displayed on smartphone (iStock)
The app recently announced a $1 billion "creator fund" in an effort to keep influencers as controversy and security fears pushed some users to competitor apps such as Triller, Instagram Reels and Crush.
TIKTOK FACES WELL-FUNDED RIVALS, REGULATORY SCRUTINY IN U.S.
Some critics of a potential U.S. ban say President Trump's decision is political after a number of TikTok users devised a plan to buy tickets to the president's June 20 Tulsa, Oklahoma, rally without any intention of actually attending.
Users claimed partial credit for heightened attendance expectations that didn't play out, with only 6,000 seats in a 19,000-seat arena filled. A state official later blamed a spike in coronavirus infections partly on the event.
Security fears related to TikTok are due in part to a 2017 Chinese national security law that requires all Chinese-owned companies to comply with requests for information from the ruling Communist party.
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