The Chinese company “ByteDance,” owner of the “TikTok” application, announced on Thursday that it had reached an agreement “in principle” to form a joint venture in which American investors would own a majority of the shares. This step aims to avoid a potential ban on the application in the United States, where it is used by more than 200 million Americans.
This deal represents a milestone for the short video application, after years of disputes that began in August 2020, when then-President Donald Trump first tried to ban “TikTok” due to national security concerns, but that attempt was unsuccessful at the time.
ByteDance explained that the new entity, which will be known as “TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC,” will be responsible for protecting the data of American users, in addition to applications and algorithms, through the application of strict data privacy and cybersecurity measures.
Under the terms of the agreement, American and global investors will receive 80.1% of the joint venture’s shares, while ByteDance will retain 19.9%.
Reuters quoted a White House official as saying that the American and Chinese governments had agreed to the deal, while there was no immediate comment from the Chinese Embassy in Washington.
Following the announcement of the deal, Trump stated that he was “very happy” with his contribution to “saving TikTok,” considering that it would be owned “by a group of American patriots and investors,” and added via “Truth Social” that the application was one of the factors that helped mobilize young votes during the 2024 presidential elections. He also expressed his thanks to Vice President JD Vance and members of his administration, and also thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for his “cooperation” and “final approval” of the deal.
