President Donald Trump told reporters he approved a deal in concept between Oracle and TikTok's parent company ByteDance in which Oracle and Walmart would partner with the app in the U.S. The move could avert the ban in U.S. app stores that was set to go into effect on Sunday.
<p>"I have given the deal my blessing," Trump<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-signs-off-on-deal-allowing-tiktok-to-continue-u-s-operations-11600551352" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> said to reporters at the White House Saturday.</a> "If they get it done, that's great. If they don't, that's okay, too."</p><p> It is unclear whether ByteDance will remain a majority owner of TikTok.</p><p>"It will have nothing to do with China. It'll be totally secure; that'll be part of the deal," Trump said. "All of the control is Walmart and Oracle, two great American companies."</p><p>But Trump said the company, now seated in Culver City, will likely be headquartered in Texas and bring 25,000 jobs. </p><p>He added that TikTok has agreed to donate $5 billion to an education fund, which Trump said would satisfy his demand that the government receive a payment from the deal.</p><p>"They're going to be setting up a very large fund," <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-19/trump-says-he-s-approved-oracle-deal-for-u-s-tiktok-operations?sref=4Kf8RwDw" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Trump told reporters. </a>"That's their contribution that I've been asking for."</p><p>Various outlets with reporters at the White House reported on Trump's sign off. It came after the president signed an executive order in August that called the viral social video app owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance a national security threat. It also called on the Beijing based parent company to sell TikTok to a U.S. firm or face a ban. </p><p>The administration accuses TikTok of sharing user data with the Chinese Communist government. TikTok denies the charges. </p><p>This week, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/17/technology/tiktok-deal-revisions-trump-review.html" target="_blank">the New York Times reported</a> that TikTok is hunting for a new CEO and that Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom is being considered for the position.</p>
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The Trump administration is ordering TikTok and WeChat be banned from all U.S. mobile app stores as of Sunday, effectively pulling one of the hottest apps in America from the reach of interested new users.
The yanking of the two apps from U.S. mobile stores come after the U.S. Department of Commerce detailed on Friday exactly what President Donald Trump's Aug. 6 executive order banning "transactions" with TikTok means. Trump's ban prohibits "any provision of service to distribute or maintain" the apps in U.S. mobile app stores, the department said.
<p>Trump issued the order over national security concerns that TikTok is sharing user data with the Chinese Communist Party and has pushed for the company's sale to a U.S.-based company. </p><p>He is set to decide on whether a deal that would make Oracle ByteDance's "trusted technology provider" is good enough to allay his security concerns. <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/17/trump-to-rule-on-tiktok-deal-in-24-36-hours-oracle-to-take-20percent-stake.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CNBC reported</a> that the deal involved Oracle having a minority stake of less than 20% in the new global TikTok, and that ByteDance hopes to do an initial public offering on the U.S. stock exchange to address ownership concerns.</p><p>A TikTok spokesperson said Friday the company disagrees with the Commerce Department decision and is "disappointed" that it will be blocking new app downloads starting Sunday and then banning the use of the app in the U.S. starting November 12.</p><p><br/></p>
<div id="56e5d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dbf23948921828a71f408f6c79346fd8"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1306956276761415681" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">@mosseri We agree that this type of ban would be bad for the industry. We invite Facebook and Instagram to publicly… https://t.co/GMGqvYjtLT</div> — Vanessa Pappas (@Vanessa Pappas)<a href="https://twitter.com/v_ness/statuses/1306956276761415681">1600437633.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"Our community of 100 million U.S. users love TikTok because it's a home for entertainment, self-expression and connection, and we're committed to protecting their privacy," the spokesperson said. "We will continue to challenge the unjust executive order, which was enacted without due process and threatens to deprive the American people and small businesses across the U.S. of a significant platform for both a voice and livelihoods."</p><p>Vanessa Pappas, the interim head of TikTok, <a href="https://twitter.com/v_ness/status/1306956276761415681" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said on Twitter</a> Friday that this type of ban would be bad for the industry and invited Facebook and Instagram to publicly join its challenge and support their litigation against the Trump administration.</p><p>"This is a moment to put aside our competition and focus on core principles like freedom of expression and due process of law," she wrote.</p><p><span></span>TikTok said that in its proposal to the U.S. it's committed to "unprecedented levels of additional transparency and accountability well beyond what other apps are willing to do, including third-party audits, verification of code security, and U.S. government oversight of U.S. data security. Plus, an American technology provider would be responsible for maintaining and operating the TikTok network in the U.S., which would include all services and data serving U.S. consumers.</p>
<div id="e0e93" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bd8f992163739f6c9040eee218ce9952"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1307056135661379586" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">I see that I will be spending this weekend explaining to people why security updates are important. #tiktok</div> — Eva (@Eva)<a href="https://twitter.com/evacide/statuses/1307056135661379586">1600461441.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>TikTok's disappearance from Apple's U.S. app store and Google Play would mean that users would lose out on any security updates, general updates or maintenance for the app. That's benign enough, except that users can be targeted by bad actors through any unpatched security vulnerabilities in the future.</p>
<div id="c2b18" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1ce0e8c3b129d5ff4eccc7a09954f60c"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1306985395087835137" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">So the US is going to block new downloads of TikTok on Sunday. But any user who already has the app by Sunday can u… https://t.co/DO5ZW5Uini</div> — Aaron Levie (@Aaron Levie)<a href="https://twitter.com/levie/statuses/1306985395087835137">1600444575.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"An abandoned app that is no longer available from the respective app store is an app that can no longer be updated to address bugs or vulnerabilities," cloud security company Wandera wrote in a <a href="https://www.wandera.com/abandoned-apps/#" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">recent report</a>. "This means they are now in a prime position to be exploited by hackers, offering fake updates, or targeting known vulnerabilities that were never patched."</p>
<div id="395b5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8698a807042eac0cd27686696f4c1827"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1306976364042559488" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Me going to download tiktok before its taken off the appstore https://t.co/brfV7LRFXk</div> — Jade (@Jade)<a href="https://twitter.com/InfernalTigris/statuses/1306976364042559488">1600442422.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>TikTok ranks fourth among free apps offered in Apple's U.S. app store. Data analytics firm Sensor Tower said it sees no evidence the news has caused a rush on installs, though there's plenty of anecdotal data showing increased interest.<br></p><p>Sensor Tower reported that the threat of Tiktok's ban resulted in a spike of downloads for its competitors in July. TikTok's monthly active users have grown across the U.S. app store and in Google Play by 51% from January to August, and increased slightly since June despite the threat of the ban.</p>
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<p>___<br/></p><p><em>Reporter Sam Blake contributed to this report. </em></p><p>
<br/><em>Do you have a story that needs to be told? My DMs are open on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/latams" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Twitter @latams</em></a><em>. You can also email me at tami(at)dot.la, or ask for my contact on Signal, for more secure and private communications.</em><br/></p>
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U.S.-based TikTok employees should still get paid if President Donald Trump's executive order to ban "transactions" with the company goes into effect next week, the Justice Department said in a court filing on Monday.
The concession is in response to a lawsuit filed last month by TikTok technical program manager Patrick S. Ryan in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California accusing Trump of violating his constitutional rights and defaming and disgracing U.S.-based TikTok Inc. employees by painting them as working for the Chinese Communist Party.
<p>The filling came the same day Oracle confirmed that TikTok's parent company <a href="https://dot.la/oracle-wins-bid-for-tiktok-2647641268/a-tiktok-timeline-the-rise-and-pause-of-a-social-video-giant" target="_self">ByteDance Ltd has chosen the Bay Area software giant </a> as its "trusted technology provider." Trump has pushed for TikTok's sale to a U.S. company, favoring Oracle Corp.</p><p>TikTok found itself in the Trump administration's line of fire over concerns that China-based ByteDance is sharing the popular app's data with the Communist government. On August 6, Trump issued an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-addressing-threat-posed-tiktok/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">executive order</a> giving the app 45 days before "transactions" with the platform are banned. But it offered no explanation as to what those transactions include.</p><p>"The government conceded at the eleventh hour because they knew they were going to lose," said Alexander Urbelis, a partner at Blackstone Law Group LLP, which represents Ryan. "We think that the government may have conceded all of our asks because they did not want to risk the court addressing the broader issue of whether Trump's executive order is unconstitutional."</p><p>Justice Department lawyers said the administration "does not intend to implement or enforce" the executive order in a way that would prohibit paying wages, salaries or benefits to TikTok employees or contractors. So, there is no need to hit pause on Trump's ban.</p><p>But, they made no assurances that Trump's order won't have an impact on employees should ByteDance and TikTok decide to restructure or change employee payments as a result. Blackstone Law Group's lead attorney John D. Lovi said in a letter to the Justice Department Monday that the government still hasn't addressed concerns that Trump's order harms the reputation of U.S.-based TikTok employees, nor has it addressed the holdup on H-1B visas because of the order.</p><p>A representative for the Justice Department did not immediately reply to a request for comment. A court clerk on Monday called off a hearing on the case set to hear the request to pause the ban on Tuesday morning.</p><p><em>___</em></p><p><em>Do you have a story that needs to be told? My DMs are open on Twitter </em><a href="https://twitter.com/latams" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>@latams</em></a><em>. You can also email me at tami(at)dot.la, or ask for my contact on Signal, for more secure and private communications.</em></p>
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