Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, Execs Talk TikTok, Facebook Boycott, Political Advertising & Revenue

Rebecca Davis editorU.S. President Donald Trump last week signed an executive order that will effectively ban TikTok, unless the app is sold to a U.S.

Donald Trump issued an executive order regarding TikTok on Thursday, barring transactions with parent company ByteDance if they don't sell the app in 45 days, according to The Hollywood Reporter. With over 100 million users in the U.S., the video-sharing platform has come under fire over user data privacy and security concerns.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorCould a Twitter-TikTok tie-up transpire?The social network and TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, have engaged in “preliminary” discussions about merging TikTok’s U.S. operations with Twitter, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing anonymous individuals.Twitter declined to comment.

TikTok is a relatively new social platform compared to the other giants, but that hasn’t stopped its stars from bringing in the big dollars.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefIf Donald Trump wanted to shore up America’s national security with his Thursday night executive orders pinpointing two Chinese apps, he has certain not achieved much.

Jill Goldsmith Co-Business EditorPopular video-sharing app TikTok said it may turn to the courts after an Executive Order by President Donald Trump last night effectively banned it from the U.S. on Sept.

President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered a sweeping but unspecified ban on dealings with the Chinese owners of consumer apps TikTok and WeChat, although it remains unclear if he has the legal authority to actually ban the apps from the U.S.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorTikTok responded to Donald Trump’s executive order issued Thursday night — to effectively ban the app if its parent company cannot complete a sale within 45 days — saying it was “shocked” and that TikTok would launch a legal fight against the president’s move.TikTok, owned by Chinese internet giant ByteDance, called Trump’s order a “dangerous precedent for the concept of free expression and open markets.”“We are shocked by the recent Executive Order, which was

SensorTower.The big four U.S.-based social media apps that are direct competitors to TikTok are Byte, Dubsmash, Triller and Zynn. SensorTower found that these four apps were downloaded 1.5 million times since July 27 when President Trump first made mention of banning TikTok because of its Chinese parent company ByteDance and concerns that ByteDance is misusing user information to compromise U.S.

Donald Trump has threatened to ban social media platform TikTok from U.S.

its statement. The Trump Administration has been weighing whether to ban or force a sale of TikTok over concern that ByteDance may be sharing data of American users with the Chinese government. Microsoft says it will continue talks with ByteDance and will decide whether or not to complete the sale by September 15.

reported that Trump was planning on ordering ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, to divest ownership of the app.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorTikTok CEO Kevin Mayer is hitting back at Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg, ahead of Zuckerberg’s appearance at a congressional hearing on Big Tech.The Facebook “attacks” on TikTok, which is owned by Chinese internet giant ByteDance, are “disguised as patriotism and designed to put an end to our very presence in the U.S.,” Mayer, who took over as CEO of TikTok in June after a long career at Disney, asserted in a blog post.Meanwhile, Mayer also took a swipe at

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefState-controlled China Central Television (CCTV) has halted broadcasting English soccer matches. The move appears to be a result of growing political tensions between China and the U.K.CCTV canceled its coverage of the game between Liverpool and Chelsea on Wednesday night.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorTwo-year-old Bad Robot Games is getting its first CEO: Anna Sweet, a games industry veteran who formerly worked at PC games platform Valve and Facebook’s Oculus.Sweet will join president Dave Baronoff, the longtime Bad Robot exec who has led the division since it was created in 2018 by co-CEOs J.J. Abrams and Katie McGrath, in a venture with China’s Tencent and Warner Bros.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefKelly Reichardt’s “First Cow” is set as the opening movie of the Melbourne International Film Festival. The event was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, before being revived online under the label MIFF 68 ½.

Also Read: 'First Cow' Director Kelly Reichardt Wins $50,000 Spirit Awards Filmmaker GrantAfter a brief, contemporary prologue that haunts every frame to follow, we find ourselves in the Oregon Territory around 1820.

recent talk of banning the app in the United States because of its China-controlled parent company, Sensor Tower found the U.S. was the country with the second-highest installs of TikTok in June — roughly 8.7%.