The wealthy surfer is flooding lobbyists

The wealthy surfer is flooding lobbyists and whoever else he can with tens upon tens of millions of dollars to get the clock app banned.

He knows his business is dying and this is the only way it will survive.

I wonder how the politicians will hide their stock trades in his company, once they know the clock app will be banned, in advance of everyone else knowing.

Mark Zuckerberg

TikTok

Facebook aka Meta

Banning TikTok would be an early Christmas gift to Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are likely quietly celebrating the news that the US government is once again threatening to ban TikTok.

On Wednesday, the social media company confirmed that the Biden administration had given TikTok’s owner ByteDance an ultimatum — sell your shares in the app or face a ban in the US. While a spokesperson for TikTok said divesting the video-sharing app from its Chinese owner would not address national security concerns, the company’s leadership is actively discussing the possibility, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

It’s not the first time US politicians have threatened to ban the app, but the Biden administration’s rhetoric around the issue has appeared to “sharpen,” Wedbush tech analyst Dan Ives told Insider. Ives said he places the odds of a spinoff or shutdown below 50% because the move could face similar legal issues that the Trump administration encountered in 2020.

Zuckerberg has much to gain from a TikTok ban. It would be like Christmas coming early for Meta, which is looking to boost engagement of its rival service, Instagram Reels. Meta’s stock advanced as much as about 3% on Thursday morning.

“Any bad news or added scrutiny for TikTok is a significantly bullish sign for Zuckerberg and Facebook,” Ives said. “They’re just a natural beneficiary.”

Even before US politicians began to publicly threaten a ban on TikTok, Zuckerberg “stoked Washington’s fears about TikTok, according to a 2020 report from the Wall Street Journal, telling the White House at a dinner that Chinese companies should be scrutinized more heavily than Facebook. More recently, the Washington Post reported last year that Meta paid a Republican consulting firm to set up an anti-TikTok campaign.
—

Reels doesn’t have TikTok’s secret sauce, an algorithm designed to keep users hooked. Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Instagram users spend 17.6 million hours a day watching Reels, while people spend an astounding 197.8 million hours a day on TikTok. – Source