Oracle Emerges as Potential Key Player in TikTok Resolution, Sources Indicate
WASHINGTON – Oracle is being discussed as a potential central component in resolving the ongoing dispute between the Trump management and China over the popular video-sharing app TikTok, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. The discussions signal a possible path forward after former president Trump repeatedly delayed enforcement of a law requiring TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to divest its U.S. operations or face a ban.
The situation impacts tens of millions of American TikTok users, raises national security concerns regarding data privacy, and represents a meaningful point of contention in U.S.-China relations. Last year, Congress passed legislation, afterward signed into law by President Biden, that presented ByteDance with an ultimatum: sell TikTok to a non-Chinese entity or risk being removed from app stores and effectively blocked in the United States. While the supreme Court unanimously upheld the law in a 9-0 decision, Trump has repeatedly intervened to postpone its implementation.
The latest delay, issued in June, extended the deadline for enforcing the divestiture or ban to September 17th.trump’s orders have specifically directed the Justice Department to refrain from penalizing tech companies like apple and Google for continuing to host TikTok on their platforms despite the legal mandate.
Sources suggest Oracle’s role could involve hosting TikTok’s U.S. user data and overseeing algorithms to address security concerns raised by lawmakers. This arrangement would aim to insulate American user information from potential access by the Chinese government. The specifics of any potential deal remain fluid and subject to ongoing negotiations.
the former president, speaking in the Oval Office on monday, offered a characteristically ambiguous assessment of the situation. “We may let it die, or we may, I don’t know, it depends. up to China. It doesn’t matter too much.I’d like to do it for the kids. They like it,” he stated.
jennifer Jacobs is a senior White House reporter at CBS News.Caitlin Yilek and Melissa Quinn contributed to this report.
