On Saturday, the White House stated that the agreement between the U.S and China on TikTok will hand the U.S six out of the seven seats on the board and will grant the Americans control of the algorithm of the popular social media app.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, in an interview with Fox News, said, “This deal means that TikTok will be majority-owned by Americans in the United States. There will be seven seats on the board that controls the app in the United States, and six of those seats will be Americans.”
Leavitt did not specify any additional information; he adds, “algorithm will also be controlled by America as well.”
A deal between the U.S and China has an agreement on the content algorithm of the Chinese-owned app, which also plays a crucial role in the negotiations, since in recent years, there have been increasing concerns among lawmakers that China might advance anti-American propaganda into the app.
In 2024, a bipartisan committee of legislators enacted a bill to prohibit the app, affirmed in January by the Supreme Court. Trump has defied that ban by launching successive extensions as the ownership talks are going on. Trump went on to suspend any potential ban until December 16, early this week, following an announcement of a so-called “framework” on a deal by his administration.
In recent weeks, China has reported that it had no intentions to give away the algorithm to the app to America in a deal.
On Friday, the White House suggested that an agreement between Washington and Beijing to sell the Chinese-owned app to an American-based owner had been reached, and it simply required signing.
However, the two nations appear to be in disagreement over a deal that has been proposed to compel the Chinese firm, ByteDance, to sell the company following a conversation between President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping.
President Trump penned on Social Truth, Trump said he’d had “a very productive call” with Xi on multiple issues and “appreciate[s] the TikTok approval” — seemingly referring to a deal on the app.
Thus, when the Chinese government read out the first time following the call, it did not mention the deal, but rather reiterated its long-held stand on permitting TikTok negotiations to proceed.
Leavitt continued that the data and security of the app would be handled by tech firm Oracle, which is led by Larry Ellison, who is a major ally of Trump. She adds, “All of the details have already been agreed upon. Now we just need this deal to be signed.”
