TikTok finds way to avoid U.S ban
TikTok has signed an agreement allowing it to create a U.S.-based joint venture, as required by law to avoid being banned in the United States, according to an internal memo from the head of the Chinese social media platform seen by Agence France-Presse.
TikTok and its owner, the Chinese group ByteDance, signed the agreement with three investors, CE Report quotes ANA-MPA.
Oracle, founded by billionaire Larry Ellison; the investment firm Silver Lake; and the UAE-based investment fund MGX — according to an internal memo from the company’s CEO, which was revealed on Thursday by U.S. media and seen by AFP.
The signing had been expected since September, when Donald Trump announced that an agreement had been reached after intensive negotiations between Washington and Beijing over the future of the platform, which is highly popular among young people.
At that time, the U.S. president extended once again, until 23 January 2026, the application of a law passed during the term of his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden. That law had threatened to ban TikTok in January 2025 if the platform had not complied with the required restructuring.
According to U.S. lawmakers, the measure aims to prevent Chinese authorities from obtaining personal data of TikTok users in the United States or influencing public opinion through the platform’s powerful algorithm.
TikTok, which reports having 170 million users in the U.S., acknowledged that some China-based employees had access to data of a few users but assured that nothing was disclosed to the Chinese government.
The future joint venture, named TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, will operate as an independent entity of TikTok, “responsible for protecting the data” of American users, “algorithm security, content moderation,” and compliance with U.S. regulations, according to the memo sent to employees by CEO Shou Zi Chew.
Under the decree signed by Donald Trump in September, “the U.S. joint venture will be majority-controlled by American investors, managed by a new seven-member board, the majority of whom will be American, and will be subject to terms protecting U.S. data and national security,” the CEO stated.
Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX — companies known for their proximity to the Trump administration — will jointly hold 45% of the venture.
Current ByteDance investors, including U.S. investment funds, will hold 30.1%, and ByteDance will retain the remaining 19.9%.
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