President Trump issued an executive order Friday giving ByteDance 90 days to either sell or spin off its TikTok business in the US.
“There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that ByteDance … might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States,” Trump wrote in the order, which references national security concerns. ByteDance is based in China, and the Trump administration has recently suggested that the company could share information about Americans with the Chinese government. The company has denied it does so.
The move gives TikTok a bit of a reprieve from Trump’s August 6th order that would have blocked all US transactions with ByteDance, TikTok’s parent corporation, due to what the president referred to as an effort to “address the national emergency with respect to the information and communication technology supply chain.” Originally, TikTok had a September 20th deadline; now, it has until November 12th.
The latest executive order requires ByteDance to destroy any TikTok data from US users, and report to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States once all the data has been destroyed. ByteDance must also destroy any data collected from TikTok precursor app Musical.ly, which the company bought in 2017. The original order with the 45-day deadline didn’t include those requirements.
“As we’ve said previously, TikTok is loved by 100 million Americans because it is a home for entertainment, self-expression, and connection,” ByteDance said in an email statement to The Verge on Friday. “We’re committed to continuing to bring joy to families and meaningful careers to those who create on our platform for many years to come.”
Microsoft has been in talks to acquire TikTok — though co-founder Bill Gates has since called the potential deal a “poisoned chalice” — and reports last week suggested Twitter also was interested. It’s not clear how Friday’s executive order affects a potential sale, but Microsoft said it expected to complete the discussions “no later than September 15th, 2020.” Theoretically, Trump’s original timeline would have been enough for Microsoft, so we’re curious if anything has changed.
