News

Microsoft says it’s interested in buying TikTok and somehow Trump is involved

In 2020 terms, this news is only slightly odd.

by
Josiah Motley
August 3, 2020

Image: KnowTechie

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After Donald Trump announced in July that he would be looking to possibly ban TikTok from the US, it seems that Microsoft is interested in purchasing the company, and because literally nothing makes sense any more, Trump is apparently part of the negotiations?

According to reports, it still isn’t clear if Trump will actually force TikTok‘s owner, ByteDance, to sell the uber-popular app, but Microsoft is already pursuing talks with the company.

From a blog post posted over the weekend, Microsoft states, “Microsoft will move quickly to pursue discussions with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, in a matter of weeks, and in any event completing these discussions no later than September 15, 2020. During this process, Microsoft looks forward to continuing dialogue with the United States Government, including with the President.”

In the same blog post, Microsoft says that it is in talks with ByteDance and will explore ownership of TikTok in “the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand and would result in Microsoft owning and operating TikTok in these markets.”

“[Microsoft] is committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury.”

Anyone else find that last part a bit…odd?

Since news broke last month that TikTok could be a security vulnerability, the company has defended itself, previously noting that it stores US user data in the United States, with backups in Singapore, and that the data and data centers are not subject to Chinese law.

The main question here, will people stay on TikTok after all of this dust settles?

What do you think? Do you find it weird that Trump is directly involved in a foreign company selling a part of its business to a US corporation? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.