Popular social network TikTok is enjoying another 90-reprieve from being banned in the United States and it looks like a deal for the sale of the company is possible.
U.S. President Donald Trump this week announced that he had identified a buyer for TikTok and according to Bloomberg, Trump’s pick is an investor consortium that includes Oracle, Blackstone, and Andreessen Horowitz. The consortium had been close to purchasing the social network back in April, but negotiations stalled due to trade tensions.
No matter if Trump thinks the consortium will buy TikTok from ByteDance, any deal to buy it will have to be approved by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has previously declined to allow negotiations to move forward.
Any deal for TikTok has to be approved by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has previously declined to allow negotiations to move forward. “We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way,” said Trump. “I think I’ll need China approval, and I think President Xi will probably do it.”
However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday that China has “reiterated its principled position,” and there was nothing to add, indicating that China isn’t any closer to giving the okay for any deal for TikTok.
The Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act has been in effect since January 19, but Trump at the time ordered the Department of Justice not to enforce the law for a 75-day period. The window was set to expire on Saturday, April 5 if a deal had not been made to sell the app to an American company, but TikTok now has now been granted another two and a half month reprieve.
The law requires TikTok to be sold to a non-Chinese company, and ByteDance was given nine months in which to do so. However, the company chose to appeal the ruling instead of searching for buyers. ByteDance argued the law was unconstitutional, as it violated the First Amendment. Supreme Court rejected that argument, saying that as a Chinese company, ByteDance does not have First Amendment rights.
ByteDance has repeatedly said it would not sell TikTok, as the code was quite complex and it would need to be uncoupled from ByteDance’s software tools.
TikTok is still available for download in the App Store.
