Microsoft has confirmed that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has rejected its bid to acquire the video-sharing platform – the acquisition would allow Microsoft to own and operate the TikTok service in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The tech giant revealed that it would have made ‘significant changes’ to the way that ByteDance and TikTok deal with security, privacy and online safety – something that it believes would have been good for American users.
In a statement, Microsoft says, “ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft. We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users while protecting national security interests. To do this, we would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combatting disinformation, and we made these principles clear in our August statement. We look forward to seeing how the service evolves in these important areas.”
Microsoft CEO was said to be in talks with the chinese tech company as well as the Trump administration over the sale – this comes after the US has made it very clear that it’s considering banning by the popular video-sharing app over user-privacy concerns.
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This failed attempt from Microsoft could leave the door for Oracle wide-open. Last month Oracle emerged as a potential buyer of TikTok according to a report by the Financial Times.
Sources told FT that the US tech company was already in “preliminary talks with TikTok owner Bytedance, and was working with a group of investors that already holds a stake in the Chinese company.”
Edited by Jenna Delport
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