Trump postpones the U.S. TikTok prohibition until mid-December.
In a recent turn of events, the fate of TikTok's powerful algorithm remains uncertain as the US government extends the delay on a potential ban of the popular social media platform.
If the latest delay had not been extended, a US law signed in 2024 by then-president Joe Biden would have forced the closure of TikTok in the United States. The executive order, issued by the current administration, prohibits the US Justice Department from taking enforcement action during the extended period and retroactively for any conduct that occurred since the ban was originally set to come into force.
The investor consortium taking control of TikTok's US business includes Oracle Corporation, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and private equity firm Silver Lake Management LLC, along with existing non-Chinese ByteDance investors such as Susquehanna International, KKR, and General Atlantic. ByteDance's existing US investors would be part of the group owning roughly 80 percent of the new company.
However, the Chinese owners would keep less than 20 percent of the US business, in accordance with the law. The United States and China have not reached a final deal over the new ownership structure for TikTok's US business.
The preliminary deal was negotiated over two days of talks in Madrid between US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. The details of the deal are yet to be disclosed, but it is known that TikTok's US business, under the new arrangement, would be controlled by the aforementioned investor consortium.
TikTok has repeatedly denied sharing user data with Chinese authorities and has challenged various restrictions in federal court. The legislation was designed to address national security concerns over TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance and its potential ties to the Chinese government.
The ban was originally set to come into force on January 19, 2025, the day before Trump's inauguration. Previous delays for TikTok were issued in January, April, and June. The latest delay was set to expire on Wednesday, but it has been extended.
Trump stated that he has reached a deal with China regarding TikTok and will speak to President Xi Jinping on Friday to confirm the details. No fact about the number of global TikTok users was specified in the context of the deal negotiations.
The article is copyrighted by AFP in 2025. TikTok continues to face scrutiny from US officials over data collection and content manipulation, and the future of the platform remains uncertain.
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