White House executive order says TikTok not controlled by foreign adversary

In a White House Executive Order, President Trump stated: “Section 2(c) of the Act further empowers the President to determine, through an interagency process, that TikTok has undergone a “qualified divestiture,” removing the Act’s prohibitions. To achieve a “qualified divestiture,” TikTok must execute a transaction that would result in the application no longer being controlled by a foreign adversary and that would preclude formerly affiliated entities from maintaining an “operational relationship” with the application’s United States operations. The Act describes “operational relationship” to include “cooperation with respect to the operation of a content recommendation algorithm” and an “agreement with respect to data sharing.” A plan has been presented to me to undergo a qualified divestiture of TikTok’s United States operations, as outlined in a framework agreement (Framework Agreement). Under this Framework Agreement, TikTok’s United States application will be operated by a newly established joint venture based in the United States. It will be majority-owned and controlled by United States persons and will no longer be controlled by any foreign adversary, since ByteDance Ltd. and its affiliates will own less than 20 percent of the entity, with the remainder being held by certain investors (Investor Parties). This new joint venture will be run by a new board of directors and subject to rules that appropriately protect Americans’ data and our national security. Accordingly, I have determined that the proposed divestiture would allow the millions of Americans who enjoy TikTok every day to continue using it while also protecting national security.”