Vice President JD Vance said Americans could have confidence the popular video platform would not be used as a ‘propaganda weapon.’
President Donald Trump approved the TikTok U.S. deal on Sept. 25, signing an executive order that will give China-based ByteDance 120 days to finalize terms with American investors.
The United States last year enacted a law that required ByteDance, a foreign adversary-controlled company, to divest itself of the popular social media app. Pursuant to the law, ByteDance will be limited to holding a stake of under 20 percent in the new joint venture.
“We have American investors taking it over, running it,” Trump said at a press briefing on Sept. 25. “We have very good controls.”
Vice President JD Vance said: “This deal really does mean that Americans can use TikTok, but actually use it with more confidence than they had in the past, because their data is going to be secure and it’s not going to be used as a propaganda weapon against our fellow citizens.”
The vice president’s office had been working on the commercial component of the deal beginning in the spring.
This deal will give American investors majority ownership in the joint venture and six of seven board seats. White House officials have said that these board members will have credentials in cybersecurity and national security. ByteDance will be able to appoint one board member but take no part in security-related decisions.
The U.S. government will not take a stake in the new joint venture and will not be appointing board members.
Trump has pushed for American ownership of TikTok since his first administration, determining China’s access to the app used by 170 million Americans a national security risk.
ByteDance and TikTok had previously given several proposals to the federal government to boost security without divestment, including the “Project Texas” plan that named Oracle as a trusted security provider. Negotiations spanned both the first Trump and Biden administrations.
