Washington (AFP)

New twists and turns in the TikTok saga, the social network that Washington and Beijing have been arguing for for weeks: an American judge on Thursday asked the government to push back the ban on the app, scheduled for the night from Sunday to Monday.

A few hours earlier, the Chinese group ByteDance, the parent company of Tiktok, indicated that it had applied to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce for an authorization to export technology - without however clearly linking this initiative to a possible sale of the popular application.

Sunday from 11:59 p.m. (03:59 GMT Monday), current American users of the platform will no longer be able to update, and potential new followers will no longer be able to download it.

To avoid this situation, TikTok is supposed to bring its activities in the United States under American control, in accordance with the decree signed this summer by Donald Trump, which accuses the app of siphoning data from American users for the benefit of Beijing, without evidence.

But an American judge gave the government until Friday afternoon to push back this ultimatum or explain its position.

If he refuses, the court could organize a new hearing on Sunday morning.

Ultimately, if no agreement was found, the application could also completely disappear from screens in the United States from November 12, according to the Treasury.

- Valuable algorithm -

Last weekend, the app confirmed plans to start a new company, TikTok Global, involving Oracle as a technology partner in the US and Walmart as a business partner.

It plans to acquire a stake of 12.5% ​​from Oracle and 7.5% from Walmart.

The Americans would hold four of the five seats on the board.

But this project depends on the goodwill of the American president and the Chinese government, in full trade war.

On Monday, the White House host, campaigning for re-election, insisted that he would not give his approval if the new group remained under Chinese control while claiming that Oracle and Walmart would own the majority of the new group.

ByteDance, which includes US investors, called the information "false rumors."

But on Thursday the Chinese group announced that it had made a "request for authorization" to export technology, without specifying on what subject.

This initiative could concern the famous algorithm that made TikTok so successful: it allows users to display the content most likely to interest them, according to their tastes, and to lead them to spend as much time as possible viewing. video after video on the platform.

China refuses to let this precious computer system fall into the hands of the United States.

On August 28, Beijing included algorithms in the list of artificial intelligence technologies that cannot be exported without authorization.

- Security, freedom -

Caught in this political stranglehold, the American leaders of TikTok launched this summer a communication campaign to prove their anchoring and their value in the United States.

Faced with the arguments for the protection of national security advanced by Donald Trump, society poses as a defender of freedom of expression and of the American Constitution.

He also highlights the importance of the platform in democratic debates in the run-up to the US elections on November 3.

“The mix of light entertainment and humor that the app offers enabled TikTok's initial growth. But today, (...) many content creators use our app to express their solidarity with social movements , assert their political preferences or support candidates, with hearings of millions of people, "the company's lawyers in their last resort against Sunday's ban.

The social network, as well as some creators, users and experts, believe that Donald Trump is attacking the app because it is frequented mainly by young people, and has facilitated spontaneous political actions against the American president, especially during of a recent major political meeting.

The social network with 100 million users also argues that blocking downloads would cause irreparable damage.

As of July 1, when the first rumors of a ban began to circulate, TikTok was adding some 424,000 new US users every day, Vanessa Pappas, TikTok's acting boss, said in the court appeal.

“Without new users, we cannot compete with other platforms,” she notes.

© 2020 AFP