• TikTok, controversy and inquiries for violated privacy
  • Trump against Chinese apps, after TikTok in WeChat's sights
  • Trump gives Microsoft 45 days to purchase TikTok

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August 15, 2020 - United States President Donald Trump has signed a decree requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok's US assets within 90 days. The decree follows the investigation conducted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, which examines acquisitions of US assets by foreign investors. Already last week, radical restrictions were placed by Trump, who ordered TikTok and WeChat to cease all their operations in the US.

ByteDance purchased the Musical.y video karaoke app from a Chinese competitor in 2017 in a deal worth nearly a billion dollars. The app has been incorporated into TikTok. Trump's executive order claims there is "credible evidence" that ByteDance's acquisition of Musical.ly "threatens to compromise US national security." The provision, which takes effect retroactively after 90 days, prohibits the acquisition and prevents ByteDance from having any interest in Musical.ly. Trump has ordered that any interest sale in Musical.ly in the United States be endorsed by the Committee on Foreign Investment, which must have access to ByteDance's books to give the green light.

"TikTok is loved by 100 million Americans because it is a place of entertainment, personal expression and connection", was the reaction of ByteDance. According to the new executive order, the Chinese company will have to destroy all copies of TikTok data linked to American users and inform the Committee on Foreign Investment once the transaction is concluded.