Microsoft’s bid to buy social media platform TikTok has been put on hold after US President Donald Trump indicated he wanted to ban the app entirely. While the deal does not appear to be dead, both parties are reportedly trying to get a handle on where the Trump administration stands, and if it plans any future action against the Chinese-based video sharing app.
President Trump told reporters Friday he was planning to ban TikTok from operating in the US. “As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. Bloomberg reports the president said he was ready to sign a document to order the ban as early as today, either via an executive order or emergency economic powers.
“I will sign the document tomorrow,” he said on Friday night, indicating that a ban could take effect “essentially immediately.”
Reuters reported Saturday that ByteDance had agreed to sell its American operations to prevent the Trump administration from banning it in the US, and, that Microsoft would be in charge of protecting US user data. The plan would have allowed another American company to take over TikTok in the US.
TikTok is a subsidiary of Beijing-based ByteDance, and has been scrutinized for its privacy practices and potential ties to China’s government. Pompeo has compared TikTok to Huawei and ZTE, two Chinese companies the Trump administration has designated as threats to US national security.
