The President of the United States has hinted that the popular video-sharing platform TikTok, which belongs to the Chinese division, will soon be under the ownership of a collective of highly affluent individuals. The identity of the new proprietors will be officially unveiled in the following fortnight.
In his words there were hints at international collaboration required for this transition, specifically pointing to the need for approval of the deal from China. He expressed optimism concerning this approval, suggesting that the Chinese President Xi Jinping would be amenable to the proposed shift in ownership of the US division.
According to the US President, the prospective buyers are not just any individuals – they constitute a group of significantly prosperous persons. He offered no further insights into their identity at this time.
Behind this decision is a deep-seated concern within Washington about the perceived threat to national security posed by the data collection practices of ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company. The fear centers around the chance that the aggregated data of American TikTok users may fall into the wrong hands.
For a while, the US authorities have been urging ByteDance to sell its American unit to an ownership that’s based in the United States. This, they believe, would mitigate any potential risk to national security.
ByteDance, however, has been adamant in its stance of not surrendering user data, even in the face of demands from the Chinese government. The company has reassured all involved parties that no data would be submitted to the government in Beijing.
In an important ruling earlier this year, on January 17, the highest court in the United States, the Supreme Court, upheld the country’s right to impose a ban on the video-sharing application. This resulted in TikTok being rendered inaccessible within the country.
The President, however, stepped in and ‘rescued’ TikTok by offering a temporary suspension of the ban, contingent upon the successful completion of the deal. Many saw this move as a lifeline for the video-sharing platform.
Later in the year, on June 18, the President showed more flexibility toward the app by pushing the deal’s deadline further into the future. This move was met with relief from various quarters.
Whilst all this was happening, the trade tension between the United States and China cast a dark cloud of uncertainty over the entire deal. The question remained whether the ongoing disputes would have an influence on the proposed transition of TikTok’s ownership.