Billionaire Shark Tank co-host Kevin O’Leary expressed interest in purchasing the social media platform TikTok, which has come under the scrutiny of the U.S. government for its ties to China.
The billionaire himself said that he does not trust the Chinese government, showing off two phones that he uses for himself — including one that he uses for TikTok with no personal data on it. O’Leary said that if Congress moves forward with a bill that would force TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest its applications within 180 days, then TikTok would have to be sold, leading to an opportunity he would be interested in.
“I would like to do it this way: form a committee of two members of red and blue that were part of making this bill and say, ‘You’ll be the oversight committee for the next 18 months,’” O’Leary said on Fox News’s Fox & Friends. “What I’m proposing is purchasing these assets into a new American company. I’ll guarantee the servers are on American soil. I’ll guarantee you will close the Chinese back doors in the code. I’ll guarantee it becomes safe for the users, the parents, small business, and large business. It’ll be an American company.”
O’Leary added that he would ask this committee if he could “leave 20, 30% … with the Chinese people,” though he clarified that “they will have no say” on how to manage the platform. He said this percentage of ownership by the Chinese people should be permitted because the country’s government “has lots of joint ventures with American companies.”
The billionaire also said that his solution would resolve the debate between restricting TikTok and free speech, as “nobody wants to lose the app.”
Concerns surrounding TikTok have been discussed numerous times by members of Congress, with Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Mark Warner (D-VA) being critical of the platform for its ties to the Chinese government. Warner also expressed disappointment in the Biden campaign for using TikTok, calling it “mixed messaging.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
President Joe Biden stated Friday that he would sign a House bill that would force TikTok to sever its ties to ByteDance or risk getting banned. Despite this, his campaign continues to use TikTok, likely as a move to reach younger voters ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Former President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has spoken in favor of TikTok, reversing his position from 2020 when he issued an order for ByteDance to sell TikTok or have the app banned.
