In an executive order issued on Thursday, US President Donald Trump formalized a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping to operate TikTok as a “newly established joint venture” in the US.
ByteDance Ltd., TikTok’s parent company, and its affiliates will own less than 20 percent of the US-based entity. However, the joint venture will have a new board of directors that is operating under “rules that appropriately protect Americans’ data and our national security.”
TikTok’s content moderation rules, which govern what types of content are allowed to be shared on the platform, will be regulated by the joint venture.
Oracle, an American technology company, will oversee the algorithm and other user data to lessen the risk of national security issues.
Other social media apps like Lemon8 and CapCut, which are also owned by ByteDance, will be owned by the joint venture. News outlets reported that the finalized deal will require further regulatory review from the US and China.
Trump stated in the executive order that: The TikTok application is a social media platform centered around short video clips, used by about 170 million Americans.
More than simply providing entertainment, many American content creators rely on the TikTok application for their livelihood, and many American businesses rely on it for their advertising.
Trump announced the deal on September 16 on Truth Social after negotiating with Chinese officials about ownership of the social media platform.
The ownership of TikTok was in jeopardy under the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which prevents “internet hosting services from foreign-controlled applications” that pose a threat to national security.
(Jurist)
