TikTok’s future in the US: all of the news about Microsoft’s deal and Trump’s ban threats – The Verge

Biden revokes and replaces Trump orders banning TikTok and WeChat

2021-06-09T10:00:02-04:00

President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday revoking the Trump-era bans on TikTok and WeChat. In place of the Trump order, Biden will direct the commerce secretary to investigate apps with ties to foreign adversaries that may pose a risk to American data privacy or national security.

The order takes the place of a series of executive orders instituted by President Trump last year, which blocked apps like TikTok, WeChat, and Alipay from US app stores and took further measures to prevent them from operating in the US. The most extreme effects of those orders were forestalled by ongoing court challenges, but Wednesday's order will …

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The US government will let TikTok run out the clock and ‘overlook’ its own deadline

2020-12-04T21:02:06-05:00

The Trump administration won't enforce its own deadline for ByteDance to sell or spin out video-sharing platform TikTok's business in the US, according to Bloomberg.

The latest deadline for that move, given by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) on November 28th, was today, December 4th. An extension isn't expected, though the current deadline will "be overlooked while the discussions continue" between the Trump administration and TikTok, Bloomberg reports.

CNN tech reporter Brian Fung is corroborating that the US won't enforce its own deadline, with his sources amusingly suggesting that the lack of a deadline …

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TikTok says the Trump administration has forgotten about trying to ban it, would like to know what’s up

2020-11-10T21:09:15-05:00

TikTok has filed a petition in a US Court of Appeals calling for a review of actions by the Trump administration's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The reason, according to the company, is that it hasn't heard from the committee in weeks about an imminent deadline for parent company ByteDance to sell off US assets over national security concerns.

The CFIUS set the deadline of November 12th for TikTok to divest itself of "any tangible or intangible assets or property, wherever located, used to enable or support ByteDance's operation of the TikTok application in the United States." TikTok says it applied for a 30- …

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Oracle founder donated $250,000 to Graham PAC in final days of TikTok deal

2020-10-17T09:00:15-04:00

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison donated $250,000 to a super PAC supporting Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) reelection campaign as his company closed in on a coveted position as TikTok's US technology partner.

FEC documents show that Ellison made the $250,000 donation to the Security is Strength PAC on September 14th. The Security is Strength PAC has bought ads exclusively in support of Graham's political ambitions, including his 2015 presidential campaign and his current reelection bid for the US Senate.

It's an unusually large donation for Ellison, who also donated $5,200 to Graham's Majority Fund in January. The timing of the larger donation is a …

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TikTok chief security officer says its servers are already separate from ByteDance

2020-10-15T11:07:34-04:00

TikTok's chief security officer says in new court documents that the US Commerce Department has mischaracterized how the app stores and secures user data, as the company renews its motion for a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration's looming ban.

Roland Cloutier, global chief security officer for TikTok, says in a new court filing, in advance of an upcoming hearing in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, that the Commerce Department made several incorrect assertions about the company's data security policies and practices.

Cloutier says a September memo from the Commerce Department outlining specific concer …

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Judge halts Trump administration ban on TikTok downloads

2020-09-27T20:24:26-04:00

A judge granted a preliminary injunction to video-sharing app TikTok on Sunday, blocking a ban on new downloads in the US that would have gone into effect at midnight. US District Judge Carl Nichols issued his decision to grant a preliminary injunction just after 8PM ET, but his opinion has been sealed, pending review by the two sides' attorneys. Nichols did not block "at this time" restrictions by the Commerce Department set to go into effect on November 12th, however.

Attorneys for TikTok argued Sunday morning during a dial-in hearing that a ban by the Trump administration would be "devastating," and urged a judge to block it until the en …

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Judge rejects TikTok creators’ request to delay ban, says they won’t suffer ‘irreparable harm’

2020-09-27T09:19:55-04:00

A judge in Pennsylvania has rejected a request from three TikTok content creators to temporarily block a ban on the app set to go into effect Sunday night, which would bar new downloads from Google and Apple's app stores in the US.

Douglas Marland, Cosette Rinab, and Alec Chambers said they "earn a livelihood from the content they post on TikTok," saying the platform's "For You" page is unique among social media platforms, because its algorithm allows "little-known creators to show their content to a large audience," according to the court filing.

Marland has 2.7 million TikTok subscribers, Rinab has 2.3 million, and Chambers has 1.8 milli …

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Oracle says ByteDance will have no ownership stake in the new TikTok Global

2020-09-21T15:19:48-04:00

In a statement to reporters on Monday, Oracle announced that its new TikTok venture will be entirely divested from ByteDance, a significant break from previous reports of the agreed deal between the two companies.

"Upon creation of TikTok Global, Oracle/Walmart will make their investment and the TikTok Global shares will be distributed to their owners, Americans will be the majority and ByteDance will have no ownership in TikTok Global," the company said in a statement to reporters.

The statement differs significantly from earlier reports, which showed Oracle and Walmart taking only a 20 percent stake in the new venture and ByteDance maint …

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President Trump says he approves of Oracle’s bid for TikTok ‘in concept’

2020-09-19T17:55:16-04:00

President Trump says he has approved "in concept" Oracle's bid for TikTok, less than a day before a de facto ban he threatened in August was set to go into effect.

"I have given the deal my blessing," Trump said to reporters outside the White House Saturday as he departed for a rally in North Carolina. "I approved the deal in concept."

On Friday, the Commerce Department issued an order to block transactions with both TikTok parent company ByteDance and WeChat, effective September 20th. The order is set to go into effect on November 12th for TikTok, effectively halting the app's operations.

The details of the deal are still in flux, but th …

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Trump’s TikTok ban is a gross abuse of power

2020-09-18T10:08:43-04:00

Update: This piece was originally published on August 11th and has been updated to reflect the official commerce order banning transactions with ByteDance.

On September 18th, the Department of Commerce issued its first implementation of President Trump's TikTok ban, set to take effect on September 20th. The order calls for a complete halt of all US transactions with TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, blocking new downloads but leaving existing versions of the app in place. It's a severe response to national security concerns that are still abstract, and a more involved ban is still scheduled for November. Many observers have sidestepped th …

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