(AFP) – A deal for the Chinese parent company of popular video-sharing app TikTok to sell its US operations would see the creation of a board dominated by Americans, the White House said Saturday.
“There will be seven seats on the board that controls the app in the United States, and six of those seats will be Americans,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News. She said a deal could be signed “in the coming days.” The United States has forcefully sought to take TikTok’s US operations out of the hands of Chinese parent company ByteDance for national security reasons.
Under President Donald Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, Congress passed a law to force ByteDance to sell its US operations or face a ban of the app. US policymakers, including Trump in his first term, have warned that China could use TikTok to mine data from Americans or exert influence on what they see on social media. But Trump turned to the platform, which is hugely popular with young Americans, to garner support during his successful 2024 presidential campaign. The Republican president has repeatedly delayed implementation of the ban while a deal has been sought.
Investors reportedly being eyed to take over the app include Oracle, the tech firm owned by Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people — and a major Trump supporter. Leavitt seemed to confirm Oracle’s participation. “The data and privacy will be led by one of America’s greatest tech companies, Oracle, and the algorithm will also be controlled by America as well,” she told Fox News. “So all of those details have already been agreed upon. Now we just need this deal to be signed.”
Trump, when asked about the deal later by reporters at the White House, said: “We have great American patriots that are buying it. Very substantial people.” He declined to say who the seventh board member would be, saying that would be announced at a later date. The TikTok deal was discussed in a call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday. Trump said afterward that Xi had “approved” the deal during the phone call, but then said: “We have to get it signed.” China did not confirm any agreement.
“We’re going to have a very, very tight control,” Trump said Friday. “There’s tremendous value with TikTok, and I’m a little prejudiced because I frankly did so well on it.” The Wall Street Journal, quoting sources familiar with the talks, reported that the US government could receive a multi-billion-dollar fee from investors as part of the deal.
© 2024 AFP
