A Look at the Ongoing Battle Between TikTok and Meta in the Social Media Market
WASHINGTON – TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew recently testified in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, but the hearing did little to resolve the ongoing battle between TikTok and Meta in the social media market. While Congress may ultimately decide to ban TikTok in the U.S., it is Meta and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg who stand to gain the most from such a decision.
Zuckerberg has been attempting to draw attention to TikTok for years, as the Chinese-owned app quickly became a dominant force in the social media market. Despite Zuckerberg’s efforts, TikTok revealed that it had 150 million monthly active users in the U.S. as of February, an impressive feat considering the app has only been around in the U.S. since 2018.
Zuckerberg’s attempts to shift scrutiny onto TikTok are not surprising, considering that his own platform, Facebook, had 266 million monthly active users in the U.S. and Canada as of the end of Q4. In fact, it was reported that Zuckerberg met with former President Donald Trump to discuss TikTok and even paid a Republican consulting firm to launch a nationwide campaign against the app.
How the Recent Congressional Hearing May Impact the Future of TikTok in the U.S.
The recent congressional hearing underscored the ongoing debate surrounding TikTok’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party and concerns about national security. However, the hearing did little to resolve the issue or yield substantial results.
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Despite a poll indicating that 41% of U.S. adults support a TikTok ban, the only way for Meta to truly benefit from this drama would be if the app was outright banned. Even if the app were to be sold to a U.S. company, it wouldn’t eliminate the competition for Meta or its competing features, including Instagram Reels.
Overall, while the recent congressional hearing may have been considered a minor win for Zuckerberg, it remains to be seen how Congress will ultimately regulate not just TikTok, but the rest of the social media companies that do the same thing. With little regulatory action taken thus far, it is likely that we will see more painful and uninformative hearings ahead. – Variety
