the future of TikTok, President Donald Trump said he would allow
an American company to acquire the short-form video app — with a catch.
Trump on Monday set September 15 as
the deadline for TikTok to find a US buyer, failing which he said he will shut
down the app in the country. In an unusual declaration, Trump also said any
deal would have to include a “substantial amount of money” coming to
the US Treasury.
“Right now they don’t have any
rights unless we give it to them. So if we’re going to give them the rights,
then … it has to come into this country,” Trump said. “It’s a great
asset, but it’s not a great asset in the United States unless they have
approval in the United States.”
Asked in a subsequent press briefing
whether the money for the Treasury should come from Microsoft — which is pursuing a purchase of TikTok — or TikTok’s Chinese
parent ByteDance, Trump said the US should get a significant portion of the
deal “either way.”
“Whether it’s Microsoft or
somebody else, or if it’s the Chinese — what the price is, the United States
could — should get a very large percentage of that price. Because we’re making
it possible,” he said.
Trump described his proposal as
being similar to a lease between a landlord and a tenant, adding that TikTok
owes the US for its success.
“TikTok is a tremendous
success, but a big portion of it’s in this country,” he said.
The President’s requirement that
some of the money from the deal go to the US Treasury doesn’t have a basis in
antitrust law, according to Gene Kimmelman, a former chief counsel for the US
Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and currently a senior adviser to
the policy group Public Knowledge.
“This is quite unusual, this is
out of the norm,” Kimmelman said. “It’s actually quite hard to
understand what the president is actually talking about here. … It’s not
unheard of for transactions to have broader geopolitical implications between
countries, but it’s quite remarkable to think about some kind of money being on
the table in connection with a transaction.”
TikTok said it remains committed to
its large American user base.
“TikTok is loved by 100 million
Americans because it is a home for entertainment, self-expression, and
connection,” company spokesperson Josh Gartner said in a statement.
“TikTok will be here for many years to come.”
How TikTok
users are reacting to Trump’s possible US ban
Microsoft says it is still discussing a potential purchase of TikTok, days after
Trump first said he would ban the popular short-form video app from operating
in the US.
In a blog post Sunday, Microsoft
said its CEO, Satya Nadella, has talked with Trump about buying the app. US
policymakers have for weeks expressed concerns about the app as tensions
between the US and China escalate, with many asserting that it could pose a
national security risk. (Security experts, however, say the threat is largely theoretical or indirect.)
“[Microsoft] is committed to
acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper
economic benefits to the United States, including the United States
Treasury,” the company said, adding that it will “move quickly”
to talk with ByteDance “in a matter of weeks.”
Microsoft declined to comment beyond
the blog post following Trump’s remarks on Monday.
says it is still talking with Trump about buying TikTok from its Chinese owner
The Trump administration has
repeatedly targeted the short-form video app in recent weeks, citing concerns
over the privacy and security of its American users. In response, TikTok has
pointed to the fact it has an American CEO and that its servers reside in the
US. The company previously considered a restructuring to ease concerns.
“This is a purchase that
wouldn’t be necessary but for the Trump administration’s hostility to Chinese
ownership of any tech companies,” said Mark Lemley, director of Stanford
University’s program in law, science and technology, adding that there isn’t
“much real evidence” that the app’s Chinese ownership presents a security
threat.
“Instead, I think this is part
of the splintering of the Internet into competing national networks,”
Lemley said. “I think that’s a problem, and splitting TikTok into
different national entities … is only going to make that problem worse.”
White House trade adviser Peter
Navarro expressed concern about a potential Microsoft acquisition because of
the company’s links to China, citing the availability of Microsoft services in
the country including its Bing search engine and Skype video calling platform.
“[Microsoft is] clearly a
multi-national company that’s made billions in China, that — that enables
Chinese censorship through things like Bing and Skype,” he told CNN on Monday.
Besides selling TikTok to a US
buyer, ByteDance may also be considering other moves to further insulate itself
from the US-China fight.
Responding to reports that it is considering London for a new TikTok
headquarters, ByteDance said in a statement that it was “committed to
being a global company.”
“In light of the current
situation, ByteDance has been evaluating the possibility of establishing
TikTok’s headquarters outside of the US, to better serve our global
users,” the company said.
Credit: CNN Business
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