Beijing: ByteDance of China has decided to establish the global headquarters of its popular video platform TikTok in the US. The company has taken this route to avoid US President Donald Trump’s order banning it.
China’s official CGTN TV said in a report on Wednesday that according to Bytdance’s plan presented to US officials, TicTalk will remain a majority shareholder in the new company headquartered in the US.
Technology company Oracle will be a minority shareholder in it. The report states that Walmart will be another minority shareholder in the company. Global retailer Walmart, along with Microsoft, offered to buy a stake in TickTalk. Individuals aware of this development said that there could also be a change in the detailed framework of the scheme. Independent third party people will be directors of the new company.
At the same time, ByteDance will continue to control TicketLock and its basic algorithms. According to the report, keeping in mind the Trump government’s concerns about the data security of US users, the company has decided to keep this data in the US and Oracle will act as a data service provider for it.
The Trump government has called Tiktok a threat to national security. Trump issued an executive order on August 6, placing a deadline in front of TickTock to close its US business by 20 September or sell it to an American company. India also banned 59 Chinese apps, including TicketLock, in June, citing threats to national security and sovereignty. Later, 118 Chinese apps were also banned.
