Sale of TikTok's US operations to a consortium including tech giant Oracle and e-commerce company Walmart is deferred indefinitely amid a review by the US President Joe Biden, according to a media report.
"President Biden undertakes a broad review of his predecessor's efforts to address potential security risks from Chinese tech companies," the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
In September, former president Donald Trump's administration approved Oracle’s bid to buy the US operations of TikTok, leading to a tentative deal where Oracle and Walmart would get a combined 20 per cent stake in a global TikTok business, averting a blanket ban on the social media app.
However, the deal was delayed as TikTok's parent company ByteDance approached the federal appeals court in Washington in November, requesting it to stop the US government from forcing a sale.
Both Oracle and TikTok did not immediately respond to The National's request for comments.
TikTok has been at the heart of the Trump administration's efforts to curb what it sees as a growing dominance of Chinese tech apps, which it claims collect US citizens' data. TikTok has repeatedly denied such allegations, saying it does not collect or sell American citizens' data.
Discussions have continued between representatives of China-based ByteDance and the US national security officials, WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the situation.
“Those discussions have centred on data security and ways to prevent the information TikTok collects on American users from being accessed by the Chinese government,” it added.
Launched in China in September 2016, TikTok was rolled out in the US in 2018 after ByteDance’s $1 billion purchase of lip-synching app Musical.ly. TikTok allows users to create and share 15-second videos while providing musical soundtracks.
The short-form video application started to actively look for a buyer for its US operations in August last year after Mr Trump issued an executive order banning businesses and US residents from using the app.
This order was reportedly aimed at forcing the Chinese firm to sell its American operations to a US group.
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Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
