TikTok owner ByteDance reportedly would rather shut down app than sell it as it faces US ban

TikTok owner ByteDance reportedly would rather shut down the popular video-sharing app than sell it if the Chinese-based company exhausts all legal options to fight a US ban – despite growing interest from American buyers for the platform.  The algorithms TikTok relies on for its operations are deemed core to ByteDance’s overall operations, which would make a sale of the app with algorithms highly unlikely, sources close to the parent said.TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew vowed on Wednesday that the social media company will wage a legal war after President Joe Biden signed a law forcing ByteDance to sell the app in 270 days or face a ban.On Thursday, ByteDance shot down a report by The Information saying it was exploring scenarios for selling TikTok’s US business without the algorithm.The company posted on Toutiao, a media platform it owns, that it had no plan to sell TikTok, which accounts for a small share of ByteDance’s total revenues and daily active users.A shutdown would have limited impact on ByteDance’s business while the company would not have to give up its core algorithm, said the sources, who declined to be named as they were not authorized to speak to the media. ByteDance declined to comment.A TikTok spokesperson told The Post: “The Information story is inaccurate.’ The Information’s report also noted that even in a selloff of its US business, TikTok wouldn’t give away its precious algorithm.This secretive algorithm, which tailors each TikTok user’s “For You” page to include videos designed to appeal to their individual interests, has been at the center of political debates on whether the app should be barred in the US.Some officials have argued that TikTok’s confidential algorithms have allowed third parties in China to spy on American users, threatening national security.TiTok has already said that it would challenge the the new law in court, calling the US government’s efforts to ban the short-form video-sharing platform �...