After the U.S. House passed a bill that could lead to a TikTok ban, famed entrepreneur Kevin O'Leary proposed purchasing the assets from ByteDance Ltd. into a new U.S. company.
In a LinkedIn post Wednesday, O'Leary highlighted the importance of the popular social media platform, but said issues “won’t go away.” He said TikTok “leaks data” to the Chinese Communist Party and needs to be sold.
“I’m proposing purchasing these assets into a new American company,” O'Leary said in the post.
“I’ll guarantee the servers are on American soil. I guarantee we’ll close the Chinese back doors in the code. I’ll guarantee it’s safe for users, small businesses and large businesses. It will be an American company!”
The recently passed bill would lead to a U.S. ban on the video platform if its Beijing-based owner ByteDance, doesn’t sell its stake. The bill will now to go the U.S. Senate after passing by a vote of 352-65.
U.S. President Joe Biden has stated he will sign the legislation if Congress passes the measure.
With files from the Associated Press.