By skyforbes 
U.S. government demands multibillion-dollar fee from American investors buying TikTok, with experts calling the payment structure “extortion” — here’s how government corporate shakedowns affect your investment costs and business confidence.
📊 IMPACT SCORE: -5/10 (Significantly negative — sets dangerous precedent for government business interference)
What Just Happened?
The U.S. government announced it will collect a “multibillion-dollar fee” from American investors acquiring TikTok, according to NPR reporting, with some experts describing the payment structure and similar government deals as “extortion.” The unprecedented fee represents a new form of government revenue extraction from private business transactions, effectively forcing investors to pay the federal government for permission to complete otherwise legal corporate acquisitions.
This isn’t just about TikTok — it’s a dangerous precedent where government agencies can demand payments from businesses as the price for regulatory approval or market access. The “extortion” label reflects concerns that government officials are using their regulatory power to extract payments that have no legal basis beyond…