Donald Trump has claimed we will know the identity of TikTok’s new owner in ‘about two weeks’.
In an interview yesterday, he said a buyer for the US arm of the company had been found, but wouldn’t give any more details other than to say ‘it’s a group of very wealthy people’.
Speaking to Fox News, he indicated the deal was not completely over the line, as he said: ‘I think I’ll need, probably, China approval, and I think President Xi will probably do it.’
TikTok was banned in the US on national security grounds in January, and briefly went offline, but it remains available to users due to extensions of the implementation date.
If a buyer ultimately can’t be found, however, US users can expect to lose access to the popular app sooner or later.
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The app went dark briefly in January this year, after the Supreme Court said the ban was lawful, with influencers breaking down in tears at losing access.
Since then, the app has been in limbo with no clear plan for its future.
The extension was extended in April, and then again earlier this month to allow more time for this apparent deal to be worked out.
If it doesn’t go ahead, the latest deadline for the ban is September 17.
A previous deal is understood not to have been approved by China as it was around the time Trump slapped steep tariffs on Chinese goods, sparking a trade war.
Why does TikTok have to be sold off in the US?
The process of banning TikTok began a long time ago, when Joe Biden was still in power.
The app, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, was created for international users after the success of its shortform video app Douyin.
It operates in international markets via subsidiaries, like TikTok LLC in the US and TikTok UK, which includes the EU.
But it has been accused of posing a national security risk because of data harvested from users.
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‘Do we want the data from TikTok – children’s data, adults’ data – to be going, to be staying here in America or going to China?’, White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan said in March last year.
China’s government insists it would never ask Chinese companies to ‘collect or provide data, information or intelligence’ held abroad.
But a 2017 National Intelligence Law requires ‘any organization’ to cooperate with and collect evidence with Chinese state intelligence.
Combined with the size of TikTok’s audience, and the power of its algorithm for recommending engaging content, there is a fear it could be used to influence the US public.
TikTok’s refusal to sell so far is seen as proof by US Republicans that their fears were fair.
Tom Cotton, chair of the Senate Republicans, said: ‘The very fact that Communist China refuses to permit its sale reveals exactly what TikTok is: a communist spy app.’
The UK also has concerns about TikTok, and it is banned on government devices.
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