WASHINGTON, D.C. – A group of U.S. investors will take over the massive video-sharing platform TikTok, President Donald Trump said Thursday.
Trump signed an executive order certifying a transaction for TikTok complies with a 2024 law requiring the platform’s Chinese parent company, Byte Dance Ltd., divest TikTok or face a ban in the U.S.
The company is valued at $14 billion in the deal, Vice President JD Vance said. A new U.S.-backed joint venture will hold 80% of the company, while Byte Dance will retain a 20% stake, according to the order. The U.S. parties will control the app’s coveted algorithm that tailors content for users as well as content moderation, according to the order.
The White House did not immediately release a list of U.S. investors, but Trump said Oracle and its CEO, Larry Ellison, would be major players. He also mentioned computer entrepreneur Michael Dell and conservative media magnate Rupert Murdoch as others involved.
“It’s run by American investors, American companies,” Trump said.
Sale needed
The 2024 law responded to concerns about the national security risks of the Chinese government’s perceived involvement with the widely used app. TikTok consistently denied the Chinese Communist Party had any control over the platform.
Without a sale, TikTok faced a ban in the United States.
The administration’s goal was to keep the platform operating in the U.S., while securing users’ data, Vance said.
“The fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to keep Tiktok operating, but we also wanted to make sure that we protected Americans’ data privacy as required by law, both because it’s the right thing to do, but also because it’s a legal requirement of the law that was passed last year by Congress,” he said.
Deal staves off TikTok shutdown
TikTok said in 2023 that it has 150 million monthly users in the country. The order updated that number to 170 million.
The app was shut down for about 24 hours in January, before Trump suspended enforcement of the law on his first day in office. He has extended that delay several times, most recently last week when he reset the deadline for December.
Thursday’s order extends the pause on enforcement of the law into January.
Lawmakers across the aisle have expressed concern that China’s ruling Communist Party could access TikTok user data and manipulate what type of content users see.
“This deal really does mean that Americans can use TikTok, but actually use it with more confidence than they had in the past, because their data is going to be secure and it’s not going to be used as a propaganda weapon against our fellow citizens,” Vance said Thursday.
Republicans in Congress want protections
Others, also across party lines, have argued that free-speech principles should mean the government cannot shut down a private speech platform.
And TikTok has argued that it is a U.S.- and Singapore-based company. The app is not even available in mainland China, where the government exerts considerable control over speech, CEO Shou Zi Chew told the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee in 2023.
A trio of senior Republicans on that committee — Chairman Brett Guthrie of Kentucky, Gus Bilirakis of Florida and Richard Hudson of North Carolina — said in a Thursday statement the deal was a positive step.
“As the details are finalized, we must ensure this deal protects American users from the influence and surveillance of CCP-aligned groups,” they wrote. “Limiting the influence and involvement of China remains a vital national security interest, and we look forward to seeing a deal that secures America’s interests on the global stage.”
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