Beijing appears to be souring on the TikTok deal. After a series of state media editorials indicated this attitude, the Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese Commerce Ministry officials are skeptical of allowing American companies to inspect TikTok’s algorithm.
A day before TikTok and WeChat were due to be taken off app stores in the U.S., both apps were saved from the ban — TikTok by Trump’s “blessing” of a restructuring deal, and WeChat by a free speech lawsuit. The future of both apps is hard to predict.
The Trump administration is poised to implement a Chinese Great Firewall–style block on WeChat starting on September 20, with downloads of the app barred and network interruptions ordered. Downloads of TikTok will also be blocked, but the company has until November 12 to strike a deal with Oracle before also suffering technical freezes.
ByteDance, wary of political risk after Beijing designated parts of its algorithms as “sensitive technologies,” will not sell TikTok to Microsoft or anyone else. Instead, the company is proposing to partner with Oracle, a Silicon Valley company with Trump-friendly executives.
Huawei and ByteDance are both approaching U.S.-imposed deadlines that could dramatically alter their business models and global reach. They are among several Chinese companies increasing their investment in Singapore to hedge against U.S.-China tension.
ByteDance, the company behind TikTok and Douyin, has acquired a company with a license from the central bank to offer digital payments. Tencent and Alibaba dominate online financial services in China: Can an ambitious upstart capture market share?
New rules from the Chinese Commerce Ministry define what appear to be core parts of TikTok’s algorithm as “sensitive technologies.” The change likely means that any sale of TikTok would have to be approved by Beijing.
What makes TikTok so successful, and what might the future ownership and trajectory of the app in the U.S. be?
President Trump signed two executive orders, one reiterating that he wants TikTok banned (unless Microsoft buys it), and another launching a new attack against WeChat. Depending on how the WeChat order is implemented, it could have massive implications for the parent company, Tencent, and the future of the internet.