US Agrees to Delay TikTok App Acquisition by 15 Days

The United States (US) government approved ByteDance’s request to extend the divestment deadline TikTok, the sale and purchase of the company will be completed in 15 days.

The US Foreign Investment Committee (CFIUS) granted an extension of 15 days to “give parties and committee additional time to resolve matters in a manner consistent with the Order”.

US President Donald Trump on August 14 ordered ByteDance to take off TikTok within 90 days.

Then TikTok filed a petition with the Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia, appealing the divestment order.

One of the problems that arise as a result of this buying and selling action is regarding ownership in a new company TikTok Global.

ByteDance highlighted the creation of a new entity “wholly owned by Oracle, Walmart and US ByteDance investors, which will be responsible for handling user data. TikTok in the US and content moderation “.

The Trump administration saw TikTok as a threat to national security, the app is accused of sending US user data to the Chinese government. This short video application has more than 100 million users in the US.

TikTok have denied these allegations.

Pressured by Trump

The administration of US President Donald Trump confirmed it would ban TikTok because it disturbs national security in the country. The US tried to convince the court that the video app was no longer available on November 12.

Currently US courts are considering the legality of the government’s offer to make the Chinese-owned application unavailable in the United States. TikTok currently has 100 million users.

“The president must not be prevented from orchestrating a national security threat simply because a foreign enemy cloaks his activities within the media companies,” said the filing on Friday (24/10/2020), in federal court in Washington.

The Trump administration is trying to persuade the judge in the case to allow him to move forward, with restrictions on the video-sharing app, which it claims has ties to the Chinese government through its parent company ByteDance.

Last September, a temporary order prevented the government from abolishing TikTok from the mobile app download platform. The Trump administration order seeks to ban new downloads of the app, but still allows use TikTok until November 12, when all usage will be blocked.

The judge at the time rejected the request TikTok to suspend the November 12 ban, but the court has yet to consider the merits of legal arguments over whether social platforms should remain available to Americans.

TikTok has repeatedly defended himself against allegations of data transfer to the Chinese government. The company says its servers where user information is stored are in the United States and Singapore.

The company also said the ban was unnecessary because negotiations were ongoing to restructure ownership TikTok in addressing national security issues raised by the government.

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