The CEO of Snapchat would like to see TikTok banned in the United States. But he also acknowledged that it would set a precedent, which Mark Zuckerberg already spoke about on the subject in 2020. Should we completely ban TikTok in the United States? This is currently one of the topics discussed in the US Congress. Recall that online social is in danger of exile cause the fact that it belongs to a Chinese company and the fear that the app could be used for espionage purposes. Either way, being kicked out of TikTok is sure to benefit its competitors. And when asked about it, Snapchat boss Evan Spiegel gave an (too) honest answer. “We would like that,” he replied to journalist Kara Swisher, according to our colleagues at TechCrunch. However, he acknowledged that this would set a dangerous precedent. “It is important for us to be thoughtful and really develop a regulatory framework in order to face security issues, especially those related to technology,” Spiegel said. “I think based on the information available public, there are legitimate national security interests far in excess of my salary.” At the moment, the fate of TikTok in the US has not yet been decided. But Snapchat is one of the platforms that would benefit from the ban on the ByteDance platform in the US. In fact, as the CNN article explains, Snap’s stock rose as early as March when it learned that the US Congress might ban TikTok.
Meta will also win
And just like Snapchat, Mark Zuckerberg’s meta group would also benefit from a TikTok ban in the US. Band doing today face to a major crisis due to the macroeconomic context, spending on metaverse projects, changes to iOS that affect ad revenue, and TikTok’s popularity among younger users. Moreover, Facebook and Instagram are currently in a complete transformation. Meta wants to show more AI-suggested content (such as TikTok) in Facebook and Instagram news feeds through posts from the accounts they follow. And these two social networks have already adopted a TikTok video-like format called Reels. According to an article published by BuzzFeed in 2020, Mark Zuckerberg allegedly indicated during a meeting with Meta employees that he was “troubled” by the idea of a ban on TikTok (which was already being considered by the Trump administration in 2020). “I just think this is a very bad long-term precedent and needs to be dealt with as best we can. grand care and extreme seriousness, whatever the decision,” he would explain. However, Mark Zuckerberg would also acknowledge concerns about the national security of the United States. “I certainly believe that an application containing a large amount of data from people who follow the rules of another country, a government that is increasingly seen as a competitor,” he would say during this meeting, “poses serious problems for national security.