Chinese technology giant ByteDance, the owner of viral short video-sharing platform TikTok has reportedly pulled out of its alleged deal with US multinationals Oracle and Walmart to sell the American rights to operate TikTok.
Earlier, the previous US President Donald Trump has forced the Beijing-based firm to agree on an arrangement with American firms before a deadline which would have allowed TikTok to remain operational in the country.
TikTok was the center-piece of the aggravating US-China trade war when the Donald Trump administration released an executive order to ban the operations of TikTok and other allegedly Chinese-affliated apps in the country citing national security reasons. The authorities claimed that apps like TikTok used the platform to collect American user data and share it with the Chinese military. The ban was later halted by the US Commerce Department.
ByteDance will now approach the US authorities with a new operational structure that would allow TikTok to operate within the country.
The ByteDance management believes that the new Biden administration will have a fresh perspective on the matter and will be more receptive to its proposal to operate in the country.
Reports suggest the new administration led by US President Joe Biden has undertaken “a broad review of his predecessor’s efforts to address potential security risks from Chinese tech companies.”
The TikTok saga was one of many Anti-China measures the previous US President Trump has enacted through executive order. The Trump administration also restricted US investors from having investments in Chinese firms, demanding them to divest all their stakes in them.
