Former US Minister Of Finance Gathers Investors Buy TikTok

JAKARTA - Former US Treasury Minister Steven Mnuchin said he was gathering investors to buy TikTok.

Mnuchin's statement comes amid pressure from the US House of Representatives for the social media platform to be taken over by force.

The US House of Representatives previously passed a draft regulation requiring TikTok to cut ties with its Chinese-based parent company ByteDance within 180 days. Otherwise, the platform will be banned in the US.

It is not yet clear whether the US Senate will also pass the regulation.

"I think the regulations must pass, and in my opinion, the (platform) must be sold," Mnuchin said in an interview on CNBC.

"It's a big business, and I'm going to gather a group of investors to buy TikTok," he said.

Mnuchin said he believed China would agree with TikTok's sales "as long as there is no technology transfer" in the process.