A deal between Washington and Beijing for the Chinese parent company of video-sharing app TikTok to sell its US operations would see the formation of an American-majority board, the White House has announced.
“There will be seven seats on the board that controls the app in the United States, and six of those seats will be Americans,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Saturday.
According to Leavitt, a deal could be signed “in the coming days”.
Leavitt’s comments come one day after US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks in a bid to finalise an agreement that will allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States amid threats of a ban.
While Trump described the conversation as being a “very good call … appreciate the TikTok approval” on his Truth Social platform, China did not confirm any agreement between the two sides.
It has been reported that Larry Ellison, the billionaire cofounder of tech firm Oracle, is part of an investor group whose companies are looking to buy the app.
Leavitt on Saturday seemed to confirm Oracle’s participation in purchasing TikTok.
“The data and privacy will be led by one of America’s greatest tech companies, Oracle, and the algorithm will also be controlled by America as well,” she told Fox News.
“So all of those details have already been agreed upon. Now we just need this deal to be signed.”
TikTok boasts about 175 million users in the US, making it one of the top five social media apps.
However, the platform has been beset by controversies when lawmakers under the Joe Biden administration passed legislation to force the platform to divest itself of its ownership by the Chinese internet company ByteDance.
Both Democrats and Republicans supported the legislation due to security concerns that Beijing could have access to TikTok data and could spread Chinese propaganda through TikTok’s algorithm.
Trump himself proposed banning TikTok during his first term as US president, signing two executive orders in August 2020 that were aimed at restricting the app. However, the US president did a U-turn, pledging to “save” the popular app during his 2024 re-election campaign.
China has consistently denied claims by US lawmakers that Beijing pressures apps like TikTok to collect personal information for the state.
The post Americans to dominate board of TikTok’s US operations: White House appeared first on Al Jazeera.
