US postpones TikTok ban due to fast approaching deal with Oracle and Walmart

The TikTok ban in the United States has been delayed as a spin-off from the Chinese service appears imminent. The ban is now scheduled for September 27, but will be completely lifted if a majority of the American division falls into American hands.

President Trump told the media on Saturday that he “ agrees in concept to a deal ” regarding the Chinese social medium and video platform. The deal means that TikTok will spin-off its US division called TikTok Global. Two American companies would take partial ownership of the spin-off: Oracle buys 12.5 percent and Walmart 7.5 percent. Oracle will also become the provider of cloud services for TikTok Global, which should address national security concerns.

TikTok’s current Chinese owner, ByteDance, owns approximately 80 percent of TikTok Global. But ByteDance is again about 40 percent owned by American investors, according to The Wall Street Journal. 40 percent of that 80 percent is 32 percent, plus Oracle’s 20 percent, and Walmart puts TikTok Global’s US share to 52 percent; a majority. TikTok Global’s board of directors would also receive a US majority.

President Trump labeled TikTok in August as a threat to national security because it could pass US user data to the Chinese government. So he gave ByteDance 90 days to get rid of the American share of the social medium. Several parties were interested in TikTok, including Microsoft. After the deadline, TikTok would disappear from the App Store and Google Play, severely hindering updates and new installs for the average user. It was said on Friday that the ban would take effect on Sunday, September 20.

The planned ban would also affect WeChat, a service of the Chinese internet giant Tencent. It is unclear whether the ban will go ahead, but The New York Times writes that a federal judge will consider it and may dismiss this order before it takes effect.