The EU is apparently leaving the door open to banning TikTok, potentially following suit on similar action taken by US lawmakers.
According to Politico, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the option was on the table during a debate.
“It is not excluded,” von der Leyen said when asked about the US ban. She then pointed out that the EU Commission was “the very first institution worldwide to ban TikTok on our corporate phones. “
“We know exactly the danger of TikTok,” she added.
ByteDance has been given a window of opportunity to sell TikTok’s US operations or face a ban. The company has indicated, however, that it would rather shut down operations than sell. It’s believed the company’s stance stems largely from the algorithms TikTok relies on, algorithms that are core to ByteDance’s other businesses.