# TikTok ban. How does a divestment work?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiktok-ban-how-does-a-divestment-work/998813>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [March 13, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiktok-ban-how-does-a-divestment-work/998813 "2024-03-13T22:21:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiktok-ban-how-does-a-divestment-work/998813/1 "2024-03-13T22:21:21Z")

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So the house voted today to ban TikTok.

They said either divest from Bytedance or be banned from the USA.

My question is does ByteDance have to agree to a divestment? Or is it all up to TikTok?

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**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiktok-ban-how-does-a-divestment-work/998813/2 "2024-03-13T22:54:24Z")

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Bytedance owns TikTok, so Bytedance will make the decision. I expect they will sell it to another company (at least the part that operates in the U.S).

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**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiktok-ban-how-does-a-divestment-work/998813/3 "2024-03-13T23:47:17Z")

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It will not be easy to sell TikTok, according to the NYT (gift link):

> **[Why a Sale of TikTok Would Not Be Easy](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/13/technology/tiktok-ban-sale-china.html?unlocked_article_code=1.cU0.fJsR.KX3pZ5WzDem7&smid=url-share)**
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> As legislation moves ahead that could eventually mandate a sale by the Chinese parent company ByteDance, hurdles include finding buyers.