The US will take control of TikTok’s algorithm in a deal to be signed ‘in the coming days’ with China, the White House has announced.
The Chinese platform was previously told it risked being closed down in the US unless it gave up its operations there.
Since coming to power in January however, Donald Trump delayed the ban, with his latest delay postponing it until at least December.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that, in addition to assuming control of the algorithms, the video sharing app’s privacy and data will be managed by US giant Oracle.
Oracle is owned and headed by Larry Ellison, one of America’s richest men.
His son, David, recently acquired Paramount, which owns CBS – further expanding the family’s media portfolio.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he had agreed the deal with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during a call between the two leaders on Friday.
Under the planned deal, which is yet to be finalised, the US division of TikTok will be sold to a group of private investors, BBC News reported.
China’s government, however, was less clear about what a deal would entail.
It said in a statement: ‘China’s position on TikTok is clear: The Chinese government respects the wishes of the enterprise, and welcomes it to carry out commercial negotiations in accordance with market rules to reach a solution compliant with China’s laws and regulations, and strikes a balance of interests.’
It comes amid questions over the Trump administration’s control of media firms and apparent suppression of journalists who share views with which it disapproves.
The president congratulated ABCfor ‘having the courage’ to take talk show host Jimmy Kimmel off air following his comments about the murdered activist Charlie Kirk.
Mr Kirk was shot dead while addressing a rally at Utah Valley Universitylast week.
Trump insisted that Kimmel’s show had been suspended due to ‘very bad ratings’, adding that the presenter was ‘not a talented person’.
He told a press conference at Chequers during his UK state visit: ‘Well, Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings, more than anything else.
‘And he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk.
‘And Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person. He had very bad ratings, and they should have fired him a long time ago.
‘So, you know, you could call that free speech or not. He was fired for lack of talent.’
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists condemned the decision to pull Kimmel’s show, saying it trespassed on media freedom.
It said in a statement: ‘The decision to suspend airing Jimmy Kimmel Live! is the type of suppression and retaliation that endangers everyone’s freedoms.’
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