ByteDance, the company that owns the social media platform TikTok said it would prefer to shut down the app rather than sell it as legislation passed by the US Congress has called for, Reuters is reporting.
Four sources who asked for anonymity from Reuters said that while TikTok is only a small portion of the company’s revenue, its algorithms rely on systems that are deemed core to ByteDance’s overall operations.
According to the sources, a sale of the app is highly unlikely.
In a post on Toutiao, another social media platform the company owns, ByteDance said reports that the company was exploring a sale “are untrue”.
The legislation calling for ByteDance to sell TikTok was part of a bill passed Tuesday by the U.S. Senate and signed into law by President Joe Biden on Wednesday.
According to the legislation, ByteDance must sell the social media platform within nine months or face a national …