President Donald Trump’s war against TikTok still continues despite ByteDance already naming Oracle as its U.S. partner.
As the next stage of the TikTok partnership with Oracle pushes through, it appears the White House is concerned that the negotiation won’t meet Trump’s ideal.
It was previously noted that the POTUS has demanded the sale of TikTok’s services over to the U.S. Negotiations were at play, with Microsoft as the supposed leading potential buyer for the Chinese app.
However, it was noted by Micky News that the deal wasn’t technically an all-out buyout. Therefore, ByteDance remains to be TikTok’s owner.
TikTok “repackaging” deal draws concern
Bloomberg reports that White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said that Oracle’s bid for TikTok might not “meet the president’s goals.”
Meadows was quoted saying:
“We’re still looking at the potential details of the deal, and whether it meets the national-security thresholds, the American-interest thresholds. My big concern is if all we’re doing is repackaging it and still keeping it as a predominantly Chinese-government run company, that would not sit well with the original goal the president outlined.”
As openly expressed by President Trump, he is concerned about the alleged violation of security laws by the Chinese apps. Which is why he had signed two separate executive orders banning TikTok and WeChat from the United States.
Although China has reportedly cited this recent U.S. presidential action to ban as a form of “economic bullying.”
Top Republican lawmakers led by Sen. Marco Rubio called on the Trump administration to reject a deal for TikTok if it leaves strong ties between the app’s Chinese owner and its proposed U.S. partner Oracle https://t.co/SJuVOpb2nD
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) September 16, 2020
Content of the Oracle’s bid
According to NBC News’ Jo Ling Kent, those who are familiar with the revised term say that TikTok will become a “global company” which will be headquartered in the U.S.
Oracle will now drive the U.S. operations of TikTok; taking responsibility for the app, including its user data. All the while, ByteDance will be the app’s majority shareholder.
News on #TikTok:
According to a source directly familiar with the term sheet/agreement, if approved by POTUS, TikTok will become a global company headquartered in US. Oracle takes responsibility for US operations + user data while ByteDance continues to be a majority shareholder
— Jo Ling Kent (@jolingkent) September 17, 2020
In addition, TikTok will have “an independent board approved by the U.S. government.” Accordingly, the board of directors shall consist of “entirely” U.S. citizens.
Moreover, the app’s board structure will have a national security committee.
Kent’s sources further say:
“TikTok US user data would be entrusted to Oracle exclusively for physical + logical network security.
Oracle will review source code to make sure there’s no backdoor for Chinese government or unauthorized employees.”
Despite wrapping the terms with the U.S. having control over TikTok, with ByteDance still having a major role might still not allegedly sit well with Trump.
Critics say that what only needs to be done is that for Oracle to review the source code assure none of the app’s private information should be leaked to the Chinese government.
Other than that, it appears that “it is about Trump’s sledgehammer approach to stealing trade back from China at the expense of global relations.”
Featured image courtesy of Antonbe/Pixabay