Trump’s recent campaign against TikTok has sent the app — and most of its endlessly scrolling users — into a bit of a tailspin. After all, whatever you think of the video platform’s cringe dance crazes and irritating looped music, we’ve needed TikTok in 2020. It’s been an essential respite from a hellfire of a year; the ultimate distraction tool. If we lost it, where would we be? Forced to do something productive?? To face our emotions?? To speak to other people in real life??? I’m good luv, thanks.
Anyway, although the President is increasingly trying to ban the app, we might not be forced into that nightmarish TikTok-less future just yet. Microsoft, king of the boomer companies, could be Gen Z’s unlikely saviour. As Trump declared war on the app’s Chinese parent company (Bytedance), Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella has revealed plans to take over the American arm of TikTok.
“Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President’s concerns. It is committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury,” the company said in a statement. “Microsoft will move quickly to pursue discussions with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, in a matter of weeks, and in any event completing these discussions no later than September 15, 2020. During this process, Microsoft looks forward to continuing dialogue with the United States Government, including with the President.”
Trump has set a time limit of 45 days for the deal to come through, otherwise it could be kaput for TikTok in America. Pls let us keep TikTok, we need this.