Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) has denied there is a conflict of interest on his property Meta Platform Inc. HALF shares, ahead of a vote on a potential ban Tick tock.
What happened: The senator was asked on Last Call with CNBC about the perspective of voting on the TikTok ban while owning Meta stock. Mullin bought Meta shares in January, leading to speculation that his vote could be influenced by potential profit gains for Meta, a TikTok competitor, if the ban is implemented.
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Mullin denied disclosing details about his market activities, but said he was not fighting a company, but the Chinese Communist Party.
“What I’m saying is that the Chinese Communist Party should not be allowed to do business openly in the United States and use free speech as protection. They have no protection, the communist party has no protection. They are an enemy and we should fight them with every opportunity we have,” she said.
Because matter: The controversy arises from growing regulatory pressure on TikTok. TikTok’s efforts to allay US national security concerns were unsuccessful, leading to the removal of a key executive. The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill requiring that TikTok be sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance Ltd., or it will be banned in the United States
Meanwhile, former president Donald Trump has reversed his position on the TikTok ban, blaming the president Joe Biden to favor Meta. Trump claims Biden is pushing for TikTok ban to help Meta gain more power.
Analysts of Wedbush believe it while Microsoft Corp. MSFT AND Oracle Corp. ORCL could be the “probable buyers” of TikTok, the real winners could be those of Meta Marco Zuckerberg AND by Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGLE Sundar Pichai. The TikTok ban bill is part of a larger package aimed at providing aid and strengthening national security measures in support of Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
Price Action: Meta shares closed 2.98% higher at $496.10 on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro.
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