Trump signs TikTok executive order, creates new $14 billion entity

Washington, Sep 26 (IANS) US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that approves the deal to keep TikTok operating in the United States.

While signing the order at the White House on Thursday, Trump said he had a “very good talk with President Xi" and "he gave us a go-ahead” about the deal.

According to the Executive Order, TikTok’s US app will be operated by a “newly established joint venture based in the US.”

“It will be majority-owned and controlled by United States persons and will no longer be controlled by any foreign adversary.”

A group of US investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake and a few others, would own the majority stake in the new venture.

It also mentioned that ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, would own “less than 20 per cent of the entity.”

Vice President JD Vance announced that the TikTok US would be valued at $14 billion.

“We wanted to keep TikTok operating, but we also wanted to make sure that we protected Americans' data privacy as required by law. This deal really does mean that Americans can use TikTok, but actually use it with more confidence than they have in the past, because their data is going to be secure and it's not going to be used as a propaganda weapon against our fellow citizens,” he added.

Vance also emphasised that control of TikTok’s algorithm would rest with American investors.

“This deal ensures that the American entity and the American investors will actually control the algorithm. We want to make sure that our people and our investors actually make these decisions based on what's good for their business, as opposed to what's good for another government's propaganda arm,” he noted.

US President Donald Trump held a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, announcing that the Chinese leader had approved the TikTok deal, which would allow the social media app to keep operating in the United States.

--IANS

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