US antitrust bill expanded to include TikTok, Tencent’s WeChat

TikTok is ByteDance’s most popular global service. It has captivated teenagers from the US to South-East Asia, while Tencent’s WeChat is the go-to lifestyle, payments and social media platform for upwards of a billion people – mostly in China. — AFP

A technology-focused antitrust bill set to be considered by a US Senate committee Thursday will be expanded to include China’s two largest social media companies – a change that seeks to address criticism that the legislation would give an advantage to foreign digital firms.

The bill’s criteria for a covered platform will be expanded to include companies that have one billion worldwide monthly users or US$550bil (RM2.30 trillion) in net annual sales, in addition to the existing US$550bil (RM2.30 trillion) market capitalisation-threshold. These new criteria would capture ByteDance Ltd’s TikTok and Tencent Holdings Ltd’s WeChat.