"New Joint Venture to Operate TikTok's U.S. Business
Oracle to Oversee Security"
The White House announced on the 22nd (local time) that President Trump is expected to sign the official agreement regarding the sale of the U.S. operations of Chinese video platform TikTok later this week.
Caroline Leavitt, White House spokesperson, stated during a briefing that day, "Businesses using TikTok are expected to generate up to $178 billion (approximately 248 trillion won) in economic activity in the United States over the next four years." According to the terms of the agreement, the new joint venture for TikTok will have a majority stake held by U.S. investors in cooperation with the U.S. government, and will be overseen by a board qualified in national security and cybersecurity.
The security operations of the new joint venture are expected to be handled by American software company Oracle. Leavitt said, "Oracle will independently monitor the safety and security of U.S. user data on the TikTok platform," adding, "The data of American users will be stored on servers operated by Oracle within the United States, without access from China." Regarding TikTok’s content recommendation algorithm, she explained, "The algorithm will be trained and retrained within the United States," and "will be outside the control of ByteDance."
Previously, a senior White House official explained during a conference call that day, "TikTok’s U.S. operations will be transferred to a new joint venture located in the United States. The joint venture will have a majority of American investors and owners," adding, "We had to come up with a compromise that meets the requirements not only of U.S. law but also of Chinese domestic law. This was a very challenging point in the negotiations."
TikTok, which enjoys significant popularity in the United States with more than 170 million American users, has raised concerns about potential misuse for personal data theft or hacking due to its parent company being China-based ByteDance. In response, the U.S. Congress passed the 'TikTok Ban Act' last year, which prohibits TikTok's service in the United States unless its U.S. operations are sold to an American company. Since then, the Trump administration has delayed the enforcement of this law, stating it would ensure Americans can continue using TikTok, and has been negotiating with China for a plan in which an American company would acquire a major stake in TikTok. The two countries recently announced they had reached a broad agreement.
President Trump is expected to sign an executive order later this week declaring the TikTok agreement legally valid. The order is also expected to include an extension of the current sanctions grace period, allowing investors and TikTok to complete the necessary paperwork to finalize the deal. According to a White House official, the TikTok-related transaction is expected to be completed 120 days after the date the executive order is signed.
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