TikTok Asks Judge to Extend the Deadline for Its Sale
Francesca Billington is a freelance reporter. Prior to that, she was a general assignment reporter for dot.LA and has also reported for KCRW, the Santa Monica Daily Press and local publications in New Jersey. She graduated from Princeton in 2019 with a degree in anthropology.
The Trump administration's deadline for ByteDance to close a deal in the U.S. is around the corner and TikTok says it hasn't gotten an update in weeks.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) had set November 12 as the last date to close a business deal, but it didn't specify what would happen if things fell through.
That's what led TikTok to file a petition in the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday. They're calling for a review of CFIUS and a 30-day extension on the deadline.
"With the November 12 CFIUS deadline imminent and without an extension in hand, we have no choice but to file a petition in court to defend our rights and those of our more than 1,500 employees in the US," TikTok told the Associated Press in a written statement.
In September, Beijing-based ByteDance announced it would sell part of its business to Walmart and Oracle, a plan Trump approved. His administration calls TikTok a national security threat, accusing the video platform of sharing user data with the Chinese Communist government, which the company denies.
The move could buy the Chinese company time as Trump is set to leave office early next year. An advisor to president-elect Joe Biden told CNBC it was "too early to say" Biden's thoughts on the social media app.
Meanwhile, TikTok's former CEO Kevin Mayer, who left amid sustained pressure from the Trump administration, has joined Len Blavatnik's investment firm Access Industries as a senior advisor.
His role will place him at the center of media and entertainment deals — Access has stakes in giants like Warner Music Group, audio streaming service Deezer and DAZN, a sports streaming service. Mayer, a former Disney executive, left TikTok after just under three months on the job.
"I look forward to helping Access build on the success of its leading media and entertainment businesses as a key component of my future endeavors," Mayer said in a statement announcing the news.
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Francesca Billington is a freelance reporter. Prior to that, she was a general assignment reporter for dot.LA and has also reported for KCRW, the Santa Monica Daily Press and local publications in New Jersey. She graduated from Princeton in 2019 with a degree in anthropology.
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