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☆ TikTok Sues U.S. Government Over Law Forcing Sale or Ban
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Sapna Maheshwari | David Mccabe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Less than two weeks after President Biden signed a bill that will force TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the popular social media app or face a ban in the United States, TikTok said it sued the federal government on Tuesday, arguing the law was unconstitutional. TikTok said that the law violated the First Amendment by effectively removing an app that millions of Americans use to share their views and communicate freely. It also argued that a divestiture was “simply not possible,” especially within the law’s 270-day timeline, pointing to difficulties such as Beijing’s refusal to sell a key feature that powers TikTok in the United States. “For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than one billion people worldwide,” the company said in the 67-page petition it provided, which initiates the lawsuit. “There is no question: The act will force a shutdown of TikTok by Jan. 19, 2025.”TikTok is battling for its survival in the United States, with the fight set to play out primarily in courts over the next few months.

Persons: Biden, TikTok, Jan, ” TikTok Locations: United States, China

☆ TikTok Tells Advertisers: ‘We Are Not Backing Down’
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Sapna Maheshwari | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Hundreds of advertisers, including major brands like L’Oreal and Victoria’s Secret, flocked to the Lower East Side on Thursday night for TikTok’s annual spring pitch to marketers. It had been about a week since President Biden signed a law that says TikTok must be sold from its Chinese parent company or face a potential ban, and marketers were champing at the bit to hear TikTok’s thoughts. Blake Chandlee, TikTok’s president of global business solutions, kicked off the evening by thanking advertisers for their “tremendous support and trust” and said that the company considered the law unconstitutional and would challenge it in court. “We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side and that we will ultimately prevail,” Mr. Chandlee told more than 300 attendees, some of whom couldn’t find chairs in the crowd. “I want you to know we are not backing down.”But for the rest of the roughly 45-minute presentation, which took place in a large gallery with the fuchsia and light blue lights of TikTok’s logo, it was business as usual.

Persons: Biden, Blake Chandlee, ”, “, Mr, Chandlee, couldn’t, Madison Locations: Washington

Although the Met Gala serves as a branding event for Vogue, it has long accepted sponsorships from the tech giants that have threatened the very survival of legacy media publications. Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder, appeared as the ball’s honorary chair in 2012. Four years later, when Apple was a Met Gala sponsor, its chief executive, Tim Cook, showed up in tux and tails. And Instagram supplied cash in 2022. In the wake of that political firestorm, Shou Chew, the 41-year-old chief executive of TikTok, is expected to join dozens of celebrity guests at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan on Monday evening.

Persons: Jeff Bezos, Apple, Tim Cook, TikTok, goliath, Condé Nast, Biden, Shou Chew Organizations: Vogue, Amazon, Metropolitan Museum of Art Locations: United States, Manhattan

Just over a year ago, lawmakers displayed a rare show of bipartisanship when they grilled Shou Chew, TikTok’s chief executive, about the video app’s ties to China. Their harsh questioning suggested that Washington was gearing up to force the company to sever ties with its Chinese owner — or even ban the app. But behind the scenes, a tiny group of lawmakers began plotting a secretive effort that culminated on Tuesday, when the Senate passed a bill that forces TikTok to be sold by its Chinese owner, ByteDance, or risk getting banned. For nearly a year, lawmakers and some of their aides worked to write a version of the bill, concealing their efforts to avoid setting off TikTok’s lobbying might. To bulletproof the bill from expected legal challenges and persuade uncertain lawmakers, the group worked with the Justice Department and White House.

Persons: Shou, Little, TikTok Organizations: Senate, Justice Department, White Locations: China, Washington, United States

☆ Congress Passed a Bill That Could Ban TikTok. Now Comes the Hard Part.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Sapna Maheshwari | David Mccabe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A bill that would force a sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner, ByteDance — or ban it outright — was passed by the Senate on Tuesday and is expected to be signed quickly into law by President Biden. Now the process is likely to get even more complicated. Congress passed the measure citing national security concerns because of TikTok’s Chinese ties. The measure is likely to face legal challenges, as well as possible resistance from Beijing, which could block the sale or export of the technology. It’s also unclear who has the resources to buy TikTok, since it will carry a hefty price tag.

Persons: ByteDance, —, Biden, TikTok, It’s Locations: United States, Beijing

☆ How TikTok Changed Us
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Sapna Maheshwari | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

In the coming days, Congress may advance a bill to ban TikTok or force its sale to an American company. A few schools have removed bathroom mirrors because so many students were leaving class to film TikTok videos there. For 14 percent of American adults, TikTok is a regular news source, up from 3 percent in 2020. People who don’t have traditional backgrounds in journalism, akin to bloggers for the TikTok era, aggregate and share information in snappy videos. Organizations including The New York Times are also making short-form videos in which reporters talk to the camera about their stories, the TikTok way.

Persons: who’ve, It’s, ”, Brooks Barnes, Natasha Singer, Becky Hughes, TikTok, Taylor, mocktails, you’ve Organizations: Sony, Hollywood, The New York Times Locations: American, United States, Hollywood

Within days, millions of TikTok videos using music from Universal artists went mute, and since then guessing which side would blink first has become a media-business parlor game. Backing this up, one study found that TikTok users reported experiencing higher levels of flow than Instagram users. Corey Basch, who analyzed 100 popular TikTok videos with the hashtag mentalhealth for a 2022 study, emerged concerned about the looping effect of the algorithm. Cerave Sales increased by more than 60 percent in 2020 after skin care became a lockdown pastime and TikTok users discovered the drugstore mainstay. Cat Crack Catnip It briefly sold out in 2021 after TikTok users posted videos of their cats going crazy for it.

Persons: randos, TikTok, you’ve, Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell, ”, “ Wonka, Barbie, “ Oppenheimer, —, goofing, cavorting, Sue Fleishman, Z’s Walter Cronkite, Spehar, Donald J, Trump, he’s, Caitlin Clark’s, Joe Biden, Justin Bieber, Abbie Richards, Richards, Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Nas X, Fleetwood Mac, Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Drake, Swift, ByteDance, can’t, Mark Warner, hasn’t, Al, ear on, Li Organizations: Fleetwood Mac, Facebook, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, White, Pew Research Center, YouTube, The New York Times, Kansas City Chiefs, Media, Colgate, Universal Music Group, ByteDance, Intelligence Committee, e Locations: United States, Beijing, Biden’s, TikTok, Singapore, View, Calif, China, American

☆ TikTok Bill Is Bundled With Aid to Ukraine and Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( David Mccabe | Sapna Maheshwari | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The measure, a modified version of a stand-alone bill that the House passed last month, will be considered alongside a package of foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, according to text of the legislation released by House leadership. The president could extend the deadline by another 90 days if progress toward a sale was being made. House lawmakers are expected to vote Saturday on a package of legislation that includes the TikTok ban and other bills popular with Republicans, a maneuver intended to induce lawmakers to vote for the foreign aid. If the package passes, the measures will be sent as a single bill to the Senate, which could vote soon after. President Biden has said he’ll sign TikTok legislation into law if it reaches his desk.

Persons: Biden Organizations: House, Republicans, Senate Locations: United States, Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan

☆ Ready for a Chatbot Version of Your Favorite Instagram Influencers?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Sapna Maheshwari | Mike Isaac | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Being an influencer can be a lot of work. Instagram is pitching popular influencers on a program that relies on artificial intelligence to interact with fans, the latest example of how Meta, Instagram’s parent company, is trying to expand the technology across its products. The program will essentially be a chatbot that mimics the “voice” of the Instagram influencer to respond to fans, the people said. Most of the messages would be sent automatically and would at least initially disclose that they were A.I.-generated, according to two of the people. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were asked to sign nondisclosure agreements as part of the program.

Persons: Instagram, A.I

☆ TikTok Turns to Nuns, Veterans and Ranchers in Marketing Blitz
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Sapna Maheshwari | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

In a TV commercial, Sister Monica Clare, a nun in northern New Jersey, walks through a church that’s bathed in sunlight and sits in a pew, crossing herself. “Because of TikTok, I’ve created a community where people can feel safe asking questions about spirituality,” she says in the advertisement. Sister Monica Clare is one of several fans of TikTok — along with drawling ranchers, a Navy veteran known as Patriotic Kenny and entrepreneurs — whom the company is highlighting in commercials as it faces intense scrutiny in Washington. “TikTok definitely has a branding issue in the United States,” Sister Monica Clare, 58, said in an interview. They don’t understand what the content is.

Persons: Monica Clare, I’ve, ”, TikTok, Kenny, —, “ TikTok, “ Organizations: Navy Locations: New Jersey, Washington, United States

☆ How the Israel-Hamas War Has Roiled TikTok Internally
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Sapna Maheshwari | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Barak Herscowitz joined TikTok two years ago in the company’s Tel Aviv office, his role was to recruit Israeli government agencies and other public-sector groups to join the video service and take advantage of its popularity. His pitch: TikTok was a powerful communication tool and getting more influential in the country by the day. And he was not satisfied with the response from the company when he raised those concerns. TikTok has been dogged for months by accusations that its app has shown a disproportionate amount of pro-Palestinian and antisemitic content to users of its hugely popular video platform. TikTok has strongly rejected those arguments, and its executives have met multiple times with Jewish groups to discuss those concerns.

Persons: Barak Herscowitz, TikTok, Herscowitz, Naftali Bennett Locations: Tel Aviv, Israel

☆ TikTok Bill’s Progress Slows in the Senate
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( David Mccabe | Sapna Maheshwari | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After a bill that would force TikTok’s Chinese parent company to sell the app or face a nationwide ban sailed through the House at breakneck speed this week, its progress has slowed in the Senate. Senators — some of whom have their own versions of bills targeting TikTok — will need to be convinced. And the process of taking the House bill and potentially rewriting it to suit the Senate could be time consuming. The legislation mandates that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, sell its stake in the app within six months or face a ban. He said that there could be adjustments made to the bill but that there was bipartisan support to wrest the app from Chinese ownership.

Persons: Chuck Schumer, —, TikTok, Richard Blumenthal Organizations: Democratic Locations: New York, Connecticut

☆ House passes TikTok ban: Could the bill pass in Senate?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailHouse passes TikTok ban: Could the bill pass in Senate? Sapna Maheshwari, The New York Times business reporter, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the passage of a House bill requiring China tech giant ByteDance to divest TikTok, how likely the bill will pass in the Senate, the impact of a potential ban, and more.

Persons: Sapna Organizations: Email, The New York Times, TikTok, Senate Locations: The, China

☆ TikTok Turns to Creators to Fight Possible Ban
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Sapna Maheshwari | Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Facing a possible ban in the United States, TikTok has scrambled to deploy perhaps its most powerful weapon: its creators. The hugely popular video service began recruiting dozens of creators at the end of last week, asking them to travel to Washington to fight a bill being debated in Congress. Under the proposal, TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, would need to sell the app or it would be blocked in the United States. Many of the creators have met with lawmakers and posted videos about their opposition to the bill with the hashtag #KeepTikTok, often with the irreverent humor the app is known for. “So old white people boomers we call Congress-people are trying to ban TikTok, and I’m not having it,” Giovanna González, a TikTok creator better known as @TheFirstGenMentor, posted in a video on Tuesday, with the U.S. Capitol visible in the distance behind her.

Persons: TikTok, I’m, ” Giovanna González Organizations: U.S, Capitol Locations: United States, Washington

The House on Wednesday passed a bill with broad bipartisan support that would force TikTok’s Chinese owner to either sell the hugely popular video app or be banned in the United States. The move escalates a showdown between Beijing and Washington over the control of technologies that could affect national security, free speech and the social media industry. Republican leaders fast-tracked the bill through the House with limited debate, and it passed on a lopsided vote of 352-65, reflecting widespread backing for legislation that would take direct aim at China in an election year. The action came despite TikTok’s efforts to mobilize its 170 million U.S. users against the measure, and amid the Biden administration’s push to persuade lawmakers that Chinese ownership of the platform poses grave national security risks to the United States.

Organizations: Republican, Biden Locations: United States, Beijing, Washington, China

☆ What to Know About the Proposed TikTok Legislation
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( David Mccabe | Sapna Maheshwari | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

House lawmakers are expected to vote starting at around 10 a.m. on Wednesday on legislation meant to force ByteDance, the Chinese internet company, to sell its wildly popular social media app TikTok. If the House passes the bill, it faces an uncertain future in the Senate. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, has not yet committed to bringing it up for a vote. Why have House lawmakers been supporting the bill? Many are worried that the Chinese government could demand the personal data of Americans from ByteDance and that, under Chinese law, ByteDance would have to comply.

Persons: ByteDance, Chuck Schumer Organizations: Lawmakers, Democratic Locations: United States, China, Beijing, New York, ByteDance

☆ Lo que debes saber sobre la ley que busca prohibir TikTok en EE. UU.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( David Mccabe | Sapna Maheshwari | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

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☆ Should China Own TikTok?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( David Leonhardt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

After Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack, TikTok flooded users with videos expressing extreme positions from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, tilted toward the Palestinian side, a Wall Street Journal analysis found. On Monday, the top U.S. intelligence official released a report saying that the Chinese government had used TikTok to promote its propaganda to Americans and to influence the 2022 midterm elections. TikTok is also owned by a company, ByteDance, that’s based in a country that is America’s biggest rival for global power: China. ByteDance executives say that they operate separately from China’s government and that they regularly remove misleading content from TikTok. The most likely scenario, experts say, is that officials aligned with the Chinese government shape TikTok’s algorithm to influence what content Americans see.

Persons: Jeanna Smialek, Jim Tankersley, “, Sapna Maheshwari, China’s, Xi Jinping, Xi Organizations: Rutgers University, Rutgers, Communist Party, Soviet NBC Locations: U.S, Tibet, Hong Kong, United States, China, Soviet

☆ The House Dealt TikTok a Blow
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A huge bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives voted today to pass a bill that would force TikTok’s Chinese owner either to sell the popular video app or face a ban in the U.S. TikTok and its owner ByteDance have downplayed or denied they pose such a risk. If the House bill becomes law, ByteDance would have roughly six months to sell TikTok to non-Chinese owners. The app could still remain on American smartphones, but the restrictions would probably degrade users’ access to it. However, my colleague Sapna Maheshwari, who covers TikTok, told me that users can expect to have access to TikTok for a while longer.

Persons: ByteDance, Sapna Maheshwari, “, ” Organizations: U.S, Lawmakers Locations: Beijing

☆ Biden the President Wants to Curb TikTok. Biden the Candidate Embraces Its Stars.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Zolan Kanno-Youngs | Sapna Maheshwari | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The White House is so concerned about the security risks of TikTok that federal workers are not allowed to use the app on their government phones. Top Biden administration officials have even helped craft legislation that could ban TikTok in the United States. But those concerns were pushed aside on Thursday, the night of President Biden’s State of the Union address, when dozens of social media influencers — many of them TikTok stars — were invited to the White House for a watch party. The crowd took selfies in the State Dining Room, drank bubbly with the first lady and waved to Mr. Biden from the White House balcony as he left to deliver his speech to Congress. “Don’t jump, I need you!” Mr. Biden shouted to the young influencers filming from above, in a scene that was captured — naturally — in a TikTok video, which was beamed out to hundreds of thousands of people.

Persons: —, Biden, “, Mr Organizations: Biden, White Locations: United States, Biden’s

☆ TikTok Prompts Users to Call Congress to Fight Possible Ban
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Sapna Maheshwari | David Mccabe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Washington lawmakers introduced a bill this week calling for TikTok to cut ties with its Chinese parent company or face a ban in the United States. One staff member posted a screenshot to X showing that TikTok also sent a push alert to some users. Some users said on X that they were unable to use the app before placing the call. TikTok told The New York Times that users could swipe right to get rid of the message, which may have been confusing because users typically swipe up to see the next video on the app. The company also said that the “X” to close the page wasn’t visible for some users at first but that it later fixed that.

Persons: TikTok Organizations: New York Times Locations: United States

☆ Instagram’s Uneasy Rise as a News Site
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Sapna Maheshwari | Mike Isaac | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On a recent Wednesday in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood, Mosheh Oinounou, a former producer for CBS, Bloomberg News and Fox News, swiped through Instagram. Then he spent much of the day turning many of the articles into posts on his Instagram account, under the handle Mo News. The content has earned Mo News 436,000 Instagram followers, turning what had been a pandemic side project into an enterprise with three full-time employees and a bigger spotlight. In December, the State Department offered Mo News an interview with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken. Mr. Oinounou said the agency had told him, “We understand how people are getting their news.”

Persons: Will, Oinounou, Biden, Antony J, Blinken, “, ” Organizations: CBS, Bloomberg News, Fox News, Mo, Republican, Mo News, State Department Locations: Instagram, New Hampshire

One proposal to Mr. Zuckerberg for 45 new staff members was declined. It was rejected and he returned to Mr. Zuckerberg in November with a scaled-down proposal for 32 new hires. It is unclear what Mr. Zuckerberg decided. At the hearing, Mr. Zuckerberg plans to suggest that Apple bear the responsibility for verifying ages via its App Store, according to his prepared remarks. Mr. Zuckerberg has long positioned Meta — and the internet writ large — as a place for both good and ill.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Meta, Richard Blumenthal, Marsha Blackburn, Mr, Blumenthal, “ We’ve, Andy Stone, Sheryl Sandberg, Nick Clegg, Clegg, Zuckerberg’s, ”, “ Organizations: Meta, Facebook, Republican, Apple Locations: Connecticut, Tennessee

☆ Judge halts TikTok ban in Montana: What happens next
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailJudge halts TikTok ban in Montana: What happens nextSapna Maheshwari, The New York Times business reporter, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss a federal judge's decision to block Montana's statewide ban on TikTok from taking effect, the battle over surveillance and privacy, why advertisers haven't left the social media platform, and more.

Persons: haven't Organizations: The New York Times Locations: Montana, The

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