Trump to revive TikTok but wants 50% US ownership

FMT:

Trump to revive TikTok

but wants 50% US

ownership

Reuters

-19 Jan 2025, 11:50 PM

The popular social media app stopped working for its 170 million American users late yesterday.

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TikTok’s unprecedented shutdown in the US is set to have a wide-ranging impact. (EPA Images pic)

WASHINGTON: 

President-elect Donald Trump said he would revive TikTok access in the US by executive order after he is sworn in tomorrow, but said he wants the popular social media app to be at least half owned by US investors.

TikTok stopped working for its 170 million American users late yesterday before a law shutting it down on national security grounds took effect today.

US officials had warned that under Chinese parent company ByteDance, there was a risk of Americans’ data being misused.

Trump said he would “extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security”.

“I would like the US to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to stay up,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Trump said the executive order would specify there would be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before his order.

Trump had earlier said he would most likely give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban after he takes office, a promise TikTok cited in a notice posted to users on the app.

“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned,” a message notified users of TikTok, which disappeared from Apple and Google app stores late yesterday.

Even if temporary, the unprecedented shutdown of TikTok is set to have a wide-ranging impact on US-China relations, US politics, the social media marketplace and millions of Americans who depend on the app economically and culturally.

The US has never banned a major social media platform.

The law passed overwhelmingly by Congress gives the incoming Trump administration sweeping authority to ban or seek the sale of other Chinese-owned apps.

Other apps owned by ByteDance, including video editing app CapCut and lifestyle social app Lemon8, were also offline and unavailable in US app stores as of late yesterday.

It was not clear if any US users could still access the app, but it was no longer working for many users, and people seeking to access it through a web application were met with the same message that TikTok was no longer working.

Move to alternatives

US president-elect Donald Trump will likely give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban. (AP pic)

Under the law passed last year and upheld on Friday by a unanimous US Supreme Court, the platform had until today to cut ties with its China-based parent or shut down its US operation to resolve concerns it poses a threat to national security.

The Chinese embassy in Washington on Friday accused the US of using unfair state power to suppress TikTok.

“China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” a spokesman said.

Uncertainty over the app’s future had sent users – mostly younger people – scrambling to alternatives including China-based RedNote.

Rivals Meta and Snap have seen their share prices rise this month ahead of the ban, as investors bet on an influx of users and advertising dollars.

“This is my new home now,” wrote a user in a RedNote post, tagged with the words “tiktokrefugee” and “sad”.

Minutes after TikTok’s US shutdown, other users took to X, formerly called Twitter.

“I didn’t really think that they would cut off TikTok. Now I’m sad and I miss the friends I made there. Hoping it all comes back in just a few days,” wrote @RavenclawJedi.

‘Hair on fire’ moment

NordVPN, a popular virtual private network, or VPN, allowing users to access the internet from servers around the world, said it was “experiencing temporary technical difficulties”.

Web searches for “VPN” spiked in the minutes after US users lost access to TikTok, according to Google Trends.

Users on Instagram fretted about whether they would still receive merchandise they had bought on TikTok Shop, the video platform’s e-commerce arm.

Marketing firms reliant on TikTok have rushed to prepare contingency plans in what one executive described as a “hair on fire” moment after months of conventional wisdom saying that a solution would materialise to keep the app running.

There have been signs TikTok could make a comeback under Trump, who has said he wants to pursue a “political resolution” of the issue and last month urged the Supreme Court to pause implementation of the ban.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to attend the US presidential inauguration and attend a rally with Trump today, a source told Reuters.

Suitors including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt have expressed interest in the fast-growing business that analysts estimate could be worth as much as US$50 billion.

Media reports say Beijing has also held talks about selling TikTok’s US operations to billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk, though the company has denied that.

US search engine start-up Perplexity AI submitted a bid yesterday to ByteDance for Perplexity to merge with TikTok US, a source familiar with the company’s plans told Reuters.

Perplexity would merge with TikTok US and create a new entity by combining the merged company with other partners, the person added.

Privately held ByteDance is about 60% owned by institutional investors such as BlackRock and General Atlantic, while its founders and employees own 20% each.

It has more than 7,000 employees in the US.