Following the news that Microsoft was looking to "move quickly" on a purchase of TikTok, there's reportedly been preliminary talks about Twitter doing the same. The Wall Street Journal reports that even though Microsoft is still the front-runner regarding a purchase for TikTok's U.S. operations, Twitter Inc. has expressed considerable interest in pursuing a deal.
Twitter is currently seen as a long-shot as far as bidding for TikTok goes, especially because the company is significantly smaller than Microsoft. However, it is worth pointing out that sources indicate Microsoft could face more scrutiny over security issues than Twitter, a company that already has an established social media platform. Twitter hasn't spoken publicly about its interest in TikTok, while Microsoft has openly expressed its intentions. The rush regarding a possible purchase comes after President Donald Trump threatened to ban the app and signed an executive order that will prohibit U.S. transactions with TikTok's parent company, ByteDance.
The order will see TikTok, and messaging app WeChat, banned within 45 days of its signing unless ByteDance is willing to sell the social media and video-sharing platform before the ban goes into effect. Additionally, the Trump administration has urged Google and Apple to remove the TikTok app from their respective digital marketplaces, calling TikTok a potential national security risk.
"TikTok automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users, including Internet and other network activity information such as location data and browsing and search histories," the executive order reads. "This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information—potentially allowing China to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage."
It was recently reported that due to the executive order, TikTok is planning to take Trump to court.
