Another potential issue is the app’s widespread use among young Americans.
According to Oxford University professor of human behavior and technology Andrew Przybylski, “roughly two out of every three young people in the US have a TikTok account.”
“The main obstacle will be maintaining the right to free speech and expression.
“I believe it can be challenged on those grounds because the UN Charter on the Rights of the Child is quite specific: young people have a right to play and to information.”
Any sale might be postponed, according to Jennifer Huddleston of the Cato Institute in Washington, due to the “considerable” regulatory scrutiny it would bring.
“Nine months is a rather quick timeframe for this size of a transaction; it’s something that is likely to have further regulatory scrutiny even without the requirements in this proposal,” she stated.
“It’s still unclear what selling TikTok in the US actually entails and if it’s even feasible. And how might a buyer appear?”
It’s also unclear exactly who would be able to purchase and run it; given the estimated price in the tens of billions of dollars, not many would be interested.