‘Aha. I Smell a Rat’ Joy Reid Suspects TikTok Debate All a Ploy to Enrich Billionaire American
MSNBC’s Joy Reid theorized this week that the debate over a potential TikTok ban boils down to trying to enrich American billionaires.
House Republicans were joined by 37 Democrats this week in favor of a bill that would ban TikTok if ByteDance, a Chinese company, does not divest from the social media app. That bill still needs to be passed through the Senate, but President Joe Biden has said he’d sign a ban if it were passed on to his desk, despite using the app himself.
“I’m sorry, but it does feel like this is an attempt to enrich some already rich American billionaire that just wants Tik Tok,” Reid asked after the vote, questioning whether the algorithmic threats from Telegram or other apps are in any way worse than TikTok.
“When we talk about data and disinformation, misinformation, it is certainly the same at a TikTok as it would be at a Facebook or an Instagram or X or Twitter, right?” NBC business and data reporter Brian Cheung stated.
Cheung explained that the true concern is ByteDance and China and their influence over TikTok’s algorithm, as well as data. He also noted that ByteDance and TikTok have a number of international investors, including American billionaire Jeff Yass. Yass is reportedly being considered for the position of Treasury Secretary by Donald Trump.
“Just to be clear. I’m sorry. Not to interrupt you. So you’re saying that an American billionaire owns some of this company. So it’s not wholly owned by China, right?” Reid asked Cheung.
“Well, I mean, of course the company is based in China. It’s based in Beijing, Bytedance, at least. But there are investment stakes that come from a number of shareholders, which can include, in some cases, Americans,” Cheung said.
Reid theorized she smelled a “rat” that proved her theory of forcing a sale to an American billionaire.
“Aha. I smell a rat. We’re going to keep talking about this,” Reid said, ending the segment by promoting her own TikTok.
Watch above via MSNBC.
