Microsoft Confirms Talks of Purchasing TikTok's US Arm

It has been brought to light that Microsoft has confirmed its talks with Chinese firm ByteDance to acquire the US arm of its video app TikTok. The firm has made discussions with President Donald Trump about his security and censorship concerns regarding the acquisition. Microsoft and ByteDance are planning to explore a deal that involves Microsoft owning and operating the TikTok service in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Microsoft expects to conclude the talks by September 15.

Soon after Trump banned TikTok in the United States, Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella has had discussions with him on Microsoft exploring the purchase of the TikTok’s US operations. “Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President’s concerns. It 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,” reveals the Microsoft statement. But, the White House did not comment on this statement immediately.

The previous reports state that Microsoft was in advanced talks to purchase the US operations of TikTok, which has been a source of national security and censorship concerns for the Trump administration. Recently, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo again raised the administration’s warnings about social media platform. “These Chinese software companies doing business in the United States, whether it’s TikTok or WeChat, there are countless more, are feeding data directly to the Chinese Communist Party, their national security apparatus,” Pompeo asserts on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures.

In Microsoft’s statement, the firm said it might invite other American investors to participate on a minority basis in the purchase of TikTok and financial terms were not disclosed. TikTok’s US user data is stored in the US, with strict controls on employee access while its biggest investors hail from the US, reveals Microsoft.

“We are committed to protecting our users’ privacy and safety as we continue working to bring joy to families and meaningful careers to those who create on our platform,” says a TikTok spokesperson. A federal committee has been reviewing whether Trump could ban TikTok in the US. “Its members agree that TikTok cannot remain in the US in its current form because it risks sending back information on 100 million Americans,” says Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The debate over TikTok has produced a broader US security crackdown on Chinese companies, including telecom providers Huawei and ZTE. The Trump administration has ordered that the US must stop buying equipment from those providers to be used in US networks. Trump has also been striving to steer allies away from Huawei over concerns that the Chinese government has access to its data, which Huawei denies.

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