TIKTOK may still be blocked in the United States despite the emergence of a proposed deal between its Chinese parent company ByteDance and a US data-management powerhouse.
ByteDance admitted on Thursday that China will need to approve the agreement with Oracle for control of the world’s most downloaded app, indicating how its bid to stave off a US ban could be further complicated.
The besieged company has spent weeks negotiating a deal with cash-flushed tech firms after US President Donald Trump last month ordered the sale of TikTok’s US operations and threatened to shut down the app nationwide.
Citing national security concerns as the drive for the ban, Trump set a deadline of September 15 to complete the deal. A ban would almost certainly mean TikTok users in the US could no longer use the app.
At the 11th hour, ByteDance reported that it had reached an agreement with Oracle but it appears the firm still has a lot of work to do to avoid catastrophe.
According to Reuters, ByteDance still needs approval from China before the deal can go ahead. The WhiteHouse is still weighing up whether the agreement meets the terms set in Trump’s August executive order.
Trump on Wednesday raised questions about ByteDance’s plans to keep a majority stake in TikTok’s US operations.
He said he did not favour the idea of the Chinese firm retaining control, after six Republican lawmakers urged him to reject the proposal.
Trump has said he would ban TikTok in the US as early as Sunday if ByteDance does not comply amid concerns that the company could pass user data to China’s Communist Party government.
An outright sale of TikTok’s operations or technologies was not included in ByteDance’s proposal to the United States, Chinese state media reported on Thursday citing a separate statement from the company.
ByteDance declined to comment when asked about this by Reuters.
When asked about ByteDance’s comments regarding the need for China’s approval, the foreign ministry on Thursday urged the United States to respect the principles of the market economy and fair competition, and to stop politicising normal economic and trade cooperation.
China late last month updated its export control rules to give it a say over the transfer of technology such as TikTok’s user recommendation algorithm to foreign buyers.
Reuters has reported that the Oracle deal would not require ByteDance to apply to Chinese authorities for an export licence for TikTok’s algorithm.
ByteDance and its founder Zhang Yiming have faced public criticism in China for seeming to give in to U.S. pressure after it was reported it was contemplating a sale of TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft.
Some netizens said they would stop using Douyin, ByteDance’s Chinese version of TikTok.
“ByteDance, as it works to find a solution to keep TikTok’s US business alive, is walking a tightrope between the demands of the US government on the one side and the expectations of both the Chinese government and public on the other,” said Mark Natkin, managing director at Marbridge Consulting.
“It can’t afford to make any missteps along the way.”
In other news, a horrifying clip of a man committing suicide went viral on TikTok last week.
TikTok was last month caught collecting private user data for over a year in a brazen breach of Google app rules.
And here’s a profile of Charlie D’Amelio, the dancing Connecticut teen who is currently the app’s mos popular user.
What do you think of the TikTok fiasco? Let us know in the comments!
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