In brief
President Trump has confirmed that a deal has been struck with China to ensure TikTok can continue its operations in the United States. Speaking to reporters, Trump praised the agreement and indicated that a buyer for the platform will be announced shortly. This deal comes amid ongoing discussions about data security and the app's ties to China, as lawmakers previously expressed serious national security concerns. The agreement reportedly retains Oracle's role in hosting TikTok's servers within the US, assuaging fears over data privacy. The specifics of the deal, including licensing of technology, will be further clarified in upcoming negotiations.
A deal has been made between the US and China to keep TikTok running in the US, according to US President Donald Trump.“We have a deal on TikTok, I’ve reached a deal with China, I’m going to speak to President Xi on Friday to confirm everything up,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a state visit to the UK.The social media platform, which is run by the Chinese company ByteDance, was told it had to sell its US operations or risk being shut down. However, Trump has repeatedly delayed the ban since it was first announced in January.The US president said a buyer will be announced soon.CNBC reported the deal would include a mix of current and new investors and would be completed in the next 30 to 45 days. It also stated that US tech company Oracle would retain its existing agreement to host TikTok servers inside the US, addressing concerns of American lawmakers regarding data being shared with China.On Monday, a US trade delegation said it had reached a “framework” deal with China amid wider trade negotiations in Madrid. China confirmed a framework agreement but said no deal would be made at the expense of their firms’ interests.After the negotiations, Wang Jingtao, deputy head of China's cyberspace administration, suggested that the agreement included “licensing the algorithm and other intellectual property rights.”He added, “The Chinese government will, according to law, examine and approve relevant matters involving TikTok, such as the export of technology as well as the license use of intellectual property.”Initially, Trump called for TikTok to be banned during his first term, but he has since reversed his stance on the popular video-sharing platform. In January, the US Supreme Court upheld a law banning the app in the US unless its Chinese parent company ByteDance sold its US arm.The US Justice Department has claimed that due to its access to data on American users, TikTok poses “a national-security threat of immense depth and scale.” However, ByteDance has resisted a sale, maintaining that its US operations are completely separate and asserts no information is shared with the Chinese state.TikTok briefly went dark in January, but this lasted for less than a day before the initial ban was delayed. The deadline for a sale has since been extended three times, and the latest delay to the ban is set to end on September 17.
