PULL THE PLUG

ByteDance Won’t Sell TikTok to Protect Its Secret Algorithm: Report

Sources said that if the company’s legal challenges fail, ByteDance would be willing to call it a loss.

TikTok’s parent company ByteDance would be far more likely to shut down the social media app than ever part with it and its essential algorithm, four sources told Reuters. Sources said that the algorithm which functions as the backbone of the app is considered essential to ByteDance’s overall operations. ByteDance has no plans to sell TikTok, the company said in a statement on Thursday. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden signed legislation that will result in a nationwide ban of the social media app, if ByteDance refuses to sell the company first. Shortly after, the CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, declared the company’s intention to challenge the legislation in court, but in the case that doesn’t work, ByteDance would be willing to pull the plug on the app, according to this newest report.