Trump to Ban TikTok – and Tencent?

[West Leas Oros 2]

Trump being petty is nothing new. Still, regardless of his reasons, i'm not sure what to think about this move. On the one hand, it's a bit authoritarian. On the other, I hate Tiktok, and social media in general. But my personal beliefs shouldn't outweigh principles of free expression.

I think tiktok is mad dumb but I think banning it is dumber.

Yeah, but I will admit we'd have a far less toxic society without social media. At least i'd say so.

[Novus America]

It is not a violation of the 1st Amendment to say it has to change its ownership though. Keeping foreign dictatorships from controlling our media protects the 1st.

We cannot have a free press if we let foreign dictatorships control it.

Well if that's what is happening, I'm less against it.

It seems it is. Basically they have until September 15th to find new ownership that separates them from the PRC. Of course it looks like they just get bought up by Microsoft, the most mega of mega corps, but still.

[West Leas Oros 2]

Well if that's what is happening, I'm less against it.

It seems it is. Basically they have until September 15th to find new ownership that separates them from the PRC. Of course it looks like they just get bought up by Microsoft, the most mega of mega corps, but still.

Well shit. Microsoft ain't really the overlord I want, but whatever. Part of me hopes they miss the deadline...

[Belshekistan]

Form a meme perspective, I'm laughing my ass off. From a non-meme perspective... I'm still laughing my ass off but for different reasons. Can't say I'll be sad to see a site that has played host to far too many pointless social media conflicts just in recent memory, made light of at least one alt-right talking point, and on top of all that has the audacity to herald itself as a successor to vine go.

[The Black Forrest]

Just give Trump a percentage and the sale will go through.

[Soiled fruit roll ups]

I have friends, Australian friends who are losing their shit right now.
Gotta go throw a watermelon at em. Maybe haze em a little.

[United Columbia Republic]

Ironic that the Trump administration is so concerned about TikTok collecting personal data and information on Americans for the PRC yet most, if not all, major US tech companies and even the US government itself does the exact same thing. This is an utterly meaningless endeavor.

Do you NOT realize that China has a new law? A law that eventually LED to TikTok being banned IN the United States. First y'all constantly banter about Trump not standing up to foreign countries but when he ACTUALLY does it y'all call him out and pretend it's his fault all over again; Putting this entire problem as a Political standard rather than putting it as an impact to the future of the United States.

[Peoples Republic of Xabia]

This won't change the fact that the NSA has eyes in every chatroom and phone call with an American citizen in it.

[Des-Bal]

Trump figured out what gravity was and liberals are pretending to float away.

[Myrensis]

So all we need to do is figure out a way to reliably prick Trumps ego in just the right way that he'll accidentally do something good in the ensuing tantrum.

Maybe the next time he has an underwhelming rally we can convince him that he was being trolled by Evangelicals, he'll be calling for church taxation and federally funded abortion within a week.

[Region of Dwipantara]

Update, Trump has finally signed an executive order DEATing TikTok from the US. It isn't effective immediately, but Trump’s new order is set to take effect 45 days after its release or September 20th — just after the deadline set for negotiations in the Microsoft deal (15th Sept). Microsoft cautioned that discussions were still tentative and “there can be no assurance that a transaction which involves Microsoft will proceed.” So if a deal is not reached before the deadline, bye-bye.

[The Alma Mater]

Update, Trump has finally signed an executive order DEATing TikTok from the US. It isn't effective immediately, but Trump’s new order is set to take effect 45 days after its release or September 20th — just after the deadline set for negotiations in the Microsoft deal (15th Sept). Microsoft cautioned that discussions were still tentative and “there can be no assurance that a transaction which involves Microsoft will proceed.” So if a deal is not reached before the deadline, bye-bye.

Gee, that is not manipulating business transactions at all *snort*

How much is Microsoft paying Trump for this ?

[American Liberty States]

The same guy that signed to renew the Patriot Act, now wants to ban TikTok because the CCP are using it to do the same thing the US Government is...

[Vassenor]

Update, Trump has finally signed an executive order DEATing TikTok from the US. It isn't effective immediately, but Trump’s new order is set to take effect 45 days after its release or September 20th — just after the deadline set for negotiations in the Microsoft deal (15th Sept). Microsoft cautioned that discussions were still tentative and “there can be no assurance that a transaction which involves Microsoft will proceed.” So if a deal is not reached before the deadline, bye-bye.

It also bans all transactions with Tencent. Wonder how many games that's going to ban in the US...

Or to put it another way, here's a list of gaming companies outside China that Tencent have either a minority or majority stake in:

Riot Games, Epic Games, Supercell, Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, Platinum Games, Marvelous, Roblox, Discord, Sumo Digital, Garena, Bluehole, Paradox, Kakao, Fatshark, Frontier etc..

[American Liberty States]

Ironic that the Trump administration is so concerned about TikTok collecting personal data and information on Americans for the PRC yet most, if not all, major US tech companies and even the US government itself does the exact same thing. This is an utterly meaningless endeavor.

The guy signed to renew the Patriot Act...

[Vassenor]

Also is Trump still demanding that the US government must get a share of whatever Microsoft pays to buy the company?

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

According to the Financial Times, Microsoft now want to buy the whole of TikTok, not just the US part.

[Region of Dwipantara]

Update, Trump has finally signed an executive order DEATing TikTok from the US. It isn't effective immediately, but Trump’s new order is set to take effect 45 days after its release or September 20th — just after the deadline set for negotiations in the Microsoft deal (15th Sept). Microsoft cautioned that discussions were still tentative and “there can be no assurance that a transaction which involves Microsoft will proceed.” So if a deal is not reached before the deadline, bye-bye.

It also bans all transactions with Tencent. Wonder how many games that's going to ban in the US...

Or to put it another way, here's a list of gaming companies outside China that Tencent have either a minority or majority stake in:

Riot Games, Epic Games, Supercell, Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, Platinum Games, Marvelous, Roblox, Discord, Sumo Digital, Garena, Bluehole, Paradox, Kakao, Fatshark, Frontier etc..

Holy shit you are right. This is really big news.

While the move against TikTok’s owner — Beijing-based Bytedance — was not a huge surprise, action against WeChat’s owner — Shenzhen-based tech giant Tencent Holdings Inc. — was.

That’s because Tencent is one of the world’s largest and most valuable companies, with ownership stakes in a number of U.S. videogame companies, including Riot Games, which makes “League of Legends”; Epic Games, which makes “Fortnite”; and Activision Blizzard ATVI , which makes “World of Warcraft.”

Tencent also has significant stakes in Tesla Inc. TSLA and Snap Inc. SNAP , the maker of Snapchat, and the Chinese company has streaming deals in place with the NBA, the NFL and Major League Baseball. The order could potentially also affect Apple Inc. AAPL and Alphabet’s GOOGL GOOG Google app stores, which feature Tencent-owned apps.

The executive order took aim directly at WeChat, which has more than 1 billion users worldwide, and whose “data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information,” the order said.

Tencent shares 700 in Hong Kong sank in Friday trading after the announcement. The news broke after the extended trading session in the U.S. closed, but traders will likely keep a close eye on how shares of Tesla, Activision Blizzard and others fare in the morning.

Banning all business by U.S. companies with WeChat’s parent — if that is the case — could prove to have much farther-reaching effects than Trump may have anticipated.

“Likely he had no idea,” tech journalist Kara Swisher tweeted Thursday night.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.market ... 2020-08-06

[Region of Dwipantara]

The wording of the order made it unclear if the ban affected just WeChat or all of Tencent’s holdings, saying: “any transaction that is related to WeChat by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with Tencent Holdings Ltd. ... Shenzhen, China, or any subsidiary of that entity.”

Either way, the order is likely to be challenged in court. If not, we're seeing major distruptions on Snapchat, NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, Apple's and Google's app store, Tesla, Unreal Engine, LoL, Fortnite, WoW, Valorant, (thank you Vassenor) Riot Games, Epic Games, Supercell, Activision-Blizzard, Ubisoft, Platinum Games, Marvelous, Roblox, Discord, Sumo Digital, Garena, Bluehole, Paradox Interactive, Kakao, Fatshark, Frontier, and basically half of the gaming industry. Riot Games and Grinding Gear Games, for example, is 100% owned by Tencent, rendering them unsalvageable.

[Domerstresseistan]

Update, Trump has finally signed an executive order DEATing TikTok from the US. It isn't effective immediately, but Trump’s new order is set to take effect 45 days after its release or September 20th — just after the deadline set for negotiations in the Microsoft deal (15th Sept). Microsoft cautioned that discussions were still tentative and “there can be no assurance that a transaction which involves Microsoft will proceed.” So if a deal is not reached before the deadline, bye-bye.

It also bans all transactions with Tencent. Wonder how many games that's going to ban in the US...

Or to put it another way, here's a list of gaming companies outside China that Tencent have either a minority or majority stake in:

Riot Games, Epic Games, Supercell, Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, Platinum Games, Marvelous, Roblox, Discord, Sumo Digital, Garena, Bluehole, Paradox, Kakao, Fatshark, Frontier etc..

Looks like Tencent has 45 days to sell off billions worth of shares they have in these companies.

[The Alma Mater]

Update, Trump has finally signed an executive order DEATing TikTok from the US. It isn't effective immediately, but Trump’s new order is set to take effect 45 days after its release or September 20th — just after the deadline set for negotiations in the Microsoft deal (15th Sept). Microsoft cautioned that discussions were still tentative and “there can be no assurance that a transaction which involves Microsoft will proceed.” So if a deal is not reached before the deadline, bye-bye.

It also bans all transactions with Tencent. Wonder how many games that's going to ban in the US...

It is all because they hold Tesla shares. Trump loves NASA after all

[The Alma Mater]

It also bans all transactions with Tencent. Wonder how many games that's going to ban in the US...

Or to put it another way, here's a list of gaming companies outside China that Tencent have either a minority or majority stake in:

Riot Games, Epic Games, Supercell, Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, Platinum Games, Marvelous, Roblox, Discord, Sumo Digital, Garena, Bluehole, Paradox, Kakao, Fatshark, Frontier etc..

Looks like Tencent has 45 days to sell off billions worth of shares they have in these companies.

So... will they put a 2 billion dollar reward on Trumps head?

[Domerstresseistan]

Looks like Tencent has 45 days to sell off billions worth of shares they have in these companies.

So... will they put a 2 billion dollar reward on Trumps head?

IIRC I believe the Iranians beat 'em to it.

[Anurial]

Only western governments are allowed to sell off our data. Those damn Chinese trying to get into the data-selling business are undercutting our profits!

Would be interesting to see how many people support a strong data protection act across the board, rather than just banning Chinese dance app

[Domerstresseistan]

Only western governments are allowed to sell off our data. Those damn Chinese trying to get into the data-selling business are undercutting our profits!

Would be interesting to see how many people support a strong data protection act across the board, rather than just banning Chinese dance app

TikTok's ban will surely serve as a sort of rude awakening for Big Tech to start respecting data privacy.