What's next for TikTok as US sale deadline looms?

The Manila Times

What's next for TikTok as US sale deadline looms?   TikTok has returned to Apple and Google's US app stores weeks after President Donald Trump delayed a ban of the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.   Millions of US users can now download the app and update it again.   The app temporarily went dark in January before a law requiring owner ByteDance to either sell it or face a ban due to concerns over national security and algorithmic influence was due to come into effect on Jan. 19.   TikTok has denied that it has or ever would share US user data.   Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20, delaying the law's enforcement by 75 days.   Trump is considering extending the 75-day delay but has said he doesn't think that will be necessary as he believes a buyer will be found.   Other countries have already banned the app.   REUTERS / US NETWORK POOL / HOUSE TV / UNRESTRICTED POOL   Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe  Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net  Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion   Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital   Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcher  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein  Soundcloud: https://tmt.ph/soundcloud   #TheManilaTimes  #tmtnews  #tiktok

Transcript

00:00I used TikTok and it created pandemonium.

00:26Users started flocking to rival social networks.

00:29In recent months, we have seen a process whereby TikTok was given a deadline to divest or face

00:35a ban and in January 19, TikTok actually took itself offline in the United States, so it

00:42completely went down voluntarily because it had not been sold off.

00:47Users in the US, 170 million of them, could not use TikTok and it created pandemonium.

00:52Users started flocking to rival social networks, Chinese-owned social networks such as Red

00:57But in under a day, the US government then brought TikTok back.

01:01They gave TikTok an extension of 75 days until April the 5th.

01:06You are here because the American people need the truth about the threat TikTok poses to

01:29our national and personal security.

01:32We do not promote or remove content at the request of the Chinese government.

01:38The question is are you 100% certain that they cannot use your company to promote such

01:44messages?

01:45It is our commitment to this committee and all our users that we will keep this free

01:48from any manipulation by any government.

01:50If you can't.

01:54On this vote, the yeas are 352, the nays are 65.

02:01TikTok is a threat to our national security because it is owned by ByteDance, which does

02:06the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party.

02:08We know this because ByteDance leadership says so and because Chinese law requires it.

02:14This bill therefore forces TikTok to break up with the Chinese Communist Party.

02:21Is TikTok listening to me through my phone?

02:23And these are some of the concerns that brought about the initiative that's happening right

02:28now with the deadline of April 5th, 2025.

02:31According to multiple reports, the potential new owner of the U.S. part of TikTok will

02:36be Oracle.

02:37Now, Oracle is a very well-established, pretty old technology company.

02:42It's a data infrastructure company.

02:44So Oracle is mainly known as holding data on vast servers.

02:49And the deal is, according to sources, going to be about Oracle looking after the data

02:54security of U.S. TikTok users.

02:57And that was really the chief concern of the Trump administration, which is bringing about

03:02this forced divestiture, this forced sale.

03:19There are concerns about not just the data privacy, but about what people see using TikTok.

03:24And according to reports, TikTok will still own the algorithm and that's mixing up what

03:29people see.

03:30So the content and the influence of content on U.S. users and global users potentially

03:36will still be owned by TikTok.

03:37And that raises different concerns.

03:52A potentially different scenario could be brought about either through a full switchover

03:58of TikTok's U.S. infrastructure, for example, the algorithm moving across as well as the

04:02data.

04:03Now, if that happens, then TikTok users could be faced with a completely different look

04:06and feel on TikTok.

04:08Different content, different content recommendations, different user recommendations.

04:12And if users are shown a different version of TikTok, there could be as much uproar as

04:16there is if TikTok comes down altogether.

04:28Can someone please tell me how it's 2020?

04:32The other potential outcome here is that TikTok and the U.S. do not reach a deal and TikTok

04:39has to come offline again.

04:42And what we saw last time was users flooding to other social networks.

04:45Many others exist.

04:47Many alternatives do exist currently.

04:48Instagram, YouTube, just to name a couple.

04:51But in protest back in January 2025, when this happened last, we actually saw TikTok

04:58users in the U.S. flooding to other Chinese-owned social networks in protest.

05:02Red Note, which has 300 million global users, was one of the main beneficiaries of this.

05:27We can see about U.S. people using TikTok and what have they got on their phones, their

05:47user behaviors, not only just their TikTok usage.

05:52We must realize also that TikTok is currently banned in many places.

05:57There are current U.S.

05:58government departments, such as the Department of Homeland Security, which bans TikTok from

06:03official devices, but also many countries have banned TikTok.

06:07India banned TikTok in 2020 and as a result, locally grown social media platforms that

06:14have rivaled TikTok, but that emulate that user experience.

06:18The bigger picture here, it's about the users, not about the government and not about the

06:42data. And that's where I think this deal will fall short.

06:46And that's what I think is going to be the more important factor moving into the future, is

06:51looking after user safety and not just thinking of user privacy.

07:05Will you extend, if the TikTok deal is not made on the timeline you gave, will you extend

07:10that?

07:10Probably.

07:11I think, look, we have a lot of interest in TikTok.

07:16And China is going to play a role.

07:18So hopefully China will approve of the deal.

07:21But they're going to play a role.

07:24But we have a lot.

07:24We have a lot of interest in TikTok.

07:27How long will you extend it and how close are you to a deal?

07:29Well, we'll see. But if I need, I don't right now, we have at least another month, so we

07:33don't need an extension.

07:34But if I needed an extension, I'd probably get it extended.

07:39Next week or the week after a massive new program for building very large, the largest

07:44ships in the world.

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