Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has expressed his concerns about an upcoming ban of social media app TikTok.
TikTok has become widely popular around the world, and has been the big winner among social media platforms during the pandemic. Some might think a TikTok ban would be in Facebook’s best interest, but that isn’t how Zuckerberg sees it.
According to BuzzFeed News, Zuckerberg said: “A lot of people are out there saying that this helps Facebook and my reaction to that is only in the most narrow sense. Yes, they are a competitor this year, and this month, next month maybe our engagement will go up. Maybe it will make Reels a little bit easier just to roll out. But you don’t run a company for the next month or the next quarter.”
Zuckerberg is evidently concerned that banning TikTok sets a bad precedent that could one day be used by other countries to ban Facebook. It remains to be seen if a ban will actually happen, as the ban isn’t set to take effect until September 15. In the meantime, Microsoft is working to purchase TikTok’s US operations. Should that happen, the precedent Zuckerberg is worried about may never come to pass.