ByteDance Gets 90 Days To Divest Its US Stake In TikTok
What Happened: President Donald Trump on Friday gave a 90-day ultimatum to ByteDance to divest the U.S. operations of its video-sharing app, TikTok.
On Aug. 6, the president had signed an executive order which barred all U.S. companies to have any form of dealings with ByteDance and WeChat. The order comes into effect 45 days from the day it was signed.
ByteDance is already in talks with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) to sell its North America, Australia and New Zealand operations of TikTok.
Trump while issuing the latest order said that he has credible evidence to believe ByteDance may be a potential threat to the national security of the United States.
Why It’s Important: The new order also allows the U.S. officials to inspect TikTok and ByteDance’s books and information systems to ensure that no personal data is compromised while the sell talks are on.
U.S. federal authorities earlier raised concerns that personal data of U.S. citizens with TikTok could be used by Chinese intelligence agencies.
Trump had previously said he would support Microsoft’s takeover of TikTok’s U.S. operations provided the U.S. government gets a "substantial portion" of the price.
See also: Trump Asks Microsoft, ByteDance To Pay US Govt A Cut From TikTok Acquisition Deal
What Next: On Aug. 5, the founder of ByteDance said the only way TikTok could prevent itself from being banned in the U.S. is to sell its stake to Microsoft.
The same day, Microsoft’s Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said he hopes to finalize a deal with TikTok by Sept. 15.
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