Trump advances TikTok deal with new executive order : NPR

The Tiktok logo is displayed outside Tiktok offices on March 12, 2024 in Culver City, California.

Mario Tama / Getty Images from North America

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Mario Tama / Getty Images from North America

President Trump gave his official blessing on Thursday to an agreement for a mainly American investor consortium to resume the short tiktok video application, signing An executive decree Green-Alluming the spin-off and saying that he has “good checks” in terms of security and security.

Tiktok belongs to Bytedance, based in Beijing, but a law adopted last year requires that the parent company is deposited or the application will be prohibited in the United States for national security problems.

Trump’s decree indicates that the agreement meets the standards of “qualified disinvestment” required by the congress – proof that the application is no longer controlled by a foreign opponent.

The order indicates that by virtue of the agreement, Bytedance will hold less than 20% of the new entity, and the new company will be managed by a board of directors subject to rules which protect the privacy of the Americans.

“I determined that the proposed transfer would allow millions of Americans who like Tiktok every day to continue using it while protecting national security,” the president wrote in the decree.

During a signing event at the White House on Thursday afternoon, Trump said that there would be investors “probably four or five” in the new entity. He appointed the founder of Oracle Larry Ellison, Rupert Murdoch of News Corp Fame and the founder of Dell Technologies Michael Dell. A senior White House official said earlier this week, the investment company Silver Lake would also be involved.

Vice-President JD Vance, who directed the administration on efforts to forge an agreement, told journalists that the company would be estimated at around $ 14 billion, which he said was a good deal for investors.

Asked about how data confidentiality for American users would be saved as part of the new arrangement, Vance has offered few details, but said: “What this agreement guarantees is that the American entity and American investors will really control the algorithm. We do not want this to be used as a foreign propaganda tool.”

Tiktok says it has around 170 million users in the United States – about half of the population. This popularity – and its Chinese property – has fueled the concerns that the application could be used by the Chinese government to collect data on Americans or manipulate American users with propaganda or disinformation.

The protection of Americans of the law on applications controlled by the foreign opponent, sign Last April, statements The fact that the applications managed by foreign opponents pose “unacceptable national security risks” and the only way to eliminate these risks is to change the property.

The law demanded bytedance to sell Tiktok, otherwise it would be prohibited in the United States The Supreme Court confirmed The law, despite the challenge of Tiktok’s freedom of expression. But the day of the inauguration, Trump signed the first of several decrees break the application of the prohibition. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has tried to negotiate an agreement so that the control moves in the American hands.

The agreement that Trump approved Thursday highlights a turnaround for the president, who tried to close Tiktok during his first administration. On Thursday, he said that he had “a little detrimental” in favor of the application, which he attributes to increase his counting of the young people in 2024 opening the way when he returned to the White House.

Tiktok’s fate has been wrapped in the wider struggle between the United States and China, including negotiations trade And price.

Vance said that there had been “a certain resistance on the Chinese side” to conclude the agreement. But Trump said he had “a very good conversation” with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping by phone last week, and that “he gave us the green light”.

Trump and Xi will meet in about five weeks at a summit of leaders in Asia-Pacific in South Korea, and Trump said he plans to visit China next yearWith Xi making a reciprocal visit to the United States “at a suitable time”.