Former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has displayed interest in purchasing TikTok after the House of Representatives passed a bill that could force the sale of the social media app to a US buyer.
If TikTok doesn’t comply, it could face a nationwide ban.
The push for the legislation caught TikTok owners ByteDance by surprise as recent attempts by the US government to ban the app have waned over recent months.
Due to this shock, TikTok sent its users push notifications, prompting them to “Call your representatives now.”
This bill is motivated by the supposed threat that the app poses to US national security in the form of Chinese government spying efforts and access to US citizen’s data.
Should the bill be enacted, Bobby Kotick has shown interest in purchasing TikTok after suggesting the idea at a recent Allen & Co. conference.
The bill
The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the bill known as the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” on the 7th of March.
The House voted unanimously in favour of the bill, passing it 50–0.
By introducing the bill, the US government is hoping to prevent the capture of US data by the Chinese government as well as the spread of Chinese propaganda.
TikTok had been negotiating with the executive branch for several years in the hopes of reaching an agreement but has been unsuccessful.
One such attempt occurred in 2022 when the parties discussed ByteDance storing their US data in the native Oracle Corp. servers, which would limit its access. However, this was eventually deemed insufficient.
The bill will go to the Senate for a floor vote as early as Wednesday, which will be the deciding factor given that President Joe Biden has already voiced his endorsement, saying he would sign it immediately.
Donald Trump attempted to force the sale of the app’s US business, in addition to Chinese-owned WeChat, in 2020 during his time in office but was unsuccessful.
However, Trump has now changed his position, saying that TikTok needs to remain in the US to sustain the competition faced by Meta Platform’s Facebook, the largest social media platform in the world by users.
Kotick’s interest
According to The Wall Street Journal, Bobby Kotick showed interest in purchasing the US division of TikTok at an Allen & Co. conference last week.
The idea was suggested to other tech tycoons at the conference, including Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI.
ChatGPT could potentially benefit from TikTok’s data to help train its AI models.
Kotick was the CEO of Activision Blizzard for over 30 years; however, a sexual harassment and gender discrimination lawsuit in 2021 spurred the end of his tenure, which was realised in 2023.
The working environment was described as a “pervasive frat boy workplace culture” under Kortick, where sexual harassment was rife, and many female employees were overlooked for promotion.
The lawsuit ended with a settlement fee of $50 million (R934 million).
During this upheaval, Microsoft made a $68.7 billion (R1.284 trillion) bid for Activision Blizzard.
After intense scrutiny, regulators finally approved the deal in 2023.
TikTok’s defence
ByteDance has two ways to avoid selling TikTok.
The first is the bill being disapproved by the Senate, as many senators have shown opposition to any legislation that could ban the app, citing free speech concerns.
The second option is to challenge the bill’s legality if it were to be passed — on the grounds of violating the First Amendment and abridging the freedom of speech.
This occurred after Montana banned the app in 2023, and a federal judge opposed and blocked the state measure.
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