Amidst all the news about TikTok’s proposed IPO in the US and Oracle deal, this news is no less than a surprise. The Trump administration has given cold shoulders to the recent Oracle TikTok partnership agreement and decided to ban TikTok in the US.
According to the press release by the US Department of Commerce, both Apple App Store and Google Play have been notified about the ban on TikTok in the US. The app must be pulled down from the app stores by Sunday.
TikTok is not the only app that has faced the wrath of Donald Trump. The super app of China, WeChat is also been banned by the Trump administration for data privacy and security concerns.
The press release states that both apps pose threats to national security by collecting “vast swaths” of user data, along with “mandatory cooperation” with the CCP’s intelligence services and by participating in “China’s civil-military fusion.”
This is quite shocking considering it’s in sharp contrast to all the latest developments which were giving completely different feelers about the view of the US on TikTok after the recent partnership agreement with Oracle.
According to the report, US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to instruct Apple AppStore and Google Play to ban TikTok from Sunday.
Oracle Deal, TikTok IPO Failed To Excite Trump
The decision to ban TikTok in the US from Sunday has come as a surprise to many. Just last week TikTok announced that it has signed a trusted partnership agreement with US-based Oracle Corporation. As a part of the proposed deal, ByteDance would sell 20% stake to Oracle, besides onboarding Walmart also.
Yesterday we also reported that ByteDance is planning for an IPO in the US next year, should the government in the United States give its approval to the plan.
Given the close connection and influence Larry Ellison, CEO – Oracle Corporation – has got on the government it was expected that the Oracle TikTok deal would easily diffuse the situation in the US.
It’s not yet clear whether Trump is seeking a complete blanket ban on both the apps or its just new users who won’t be able to download these apps.
Trump administration has set November 12 as a deadline for TikTok to resolve the administration’s “national security concerns.
Update: It’s has been clarified that all the existing users of TikTok would be able to use the TikTok app as before. However, TikTok would not be able to acquire new users in the US as all stores are instructed to pull TikTok down by Sunday.
Similarly, WeChat users won’t be able to perform any financial transactions anymore. But rest of the functions for existing users would function normally.
Update 2: 19 Sep 2020: The scheduled ban on the download of TikTok has been postponed for a week after Donald Trump gave his blessings to the multi-party deal involving ByteDance, Oracle and Walmart.
