President Trump issued an executive order on Friday giving ByteDance 90 days to sell or divest its TikTok business in the US.
“There is credible evidence that leads me to believe ByteDance … could take action that could endanger the national security of the United States,” Trump said wrote in the order, which refers to concerns about national security. ByteDance is based in China, and the Trump administration recently suggested that the company could share information about Americans with the Chinese government. The company has denied doing this.
The move gives TikTok a bit of a reprieve from Trump’s August 6 order that would have blocked all U.S. transactions with ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, due to what the president called an attempt to “ overcome the national information and supply chain emergency. communication technology. Originally, TikTok had a deadline of September 20, now it has until November 12.
The latest implementing decree requires ByteDance to destroy all TikTok data from US users and report it to the United States Foreign Investment Commission once all data is destroyed. ByteDance must also destroy any data collected through the TikTok precursor app Musical.ly, which the company bought in 2017. The original order with the 45 day deadline did not include these requirements.
As we have said before, TikTok is loved by 100 million Americans for being a home for entertainment, self-expression and connection, “ByteDance said in an email statement to The edge on Friday. “We are committed to bringing joy to families and meaningful careers for those who create on our platform for many years to come.”
Microsoft is in talks to acquire TikTok – although co-founder Bill Gates has since called the potential deal a “poisoned chalice” – and last week, reports said Twitter was also interested. It’s not clear how Friday’s enforceable title affects a potential sale, but Microsoft said it expected the discussions to be finalized “by September 15, 2020.” Theoretically, Trump’s original timeline would have been enough for Microsoft, so we’re curious to see if anything has changed.
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