TikTok users in the US are waiting with bated breath as various US companies and entrepreneurs seek to hash out a deal with the platform's China-based owner ByteDance before an April 5 deadline potentially prompts it to shut down.
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian this month announced he was joining billionaire Frank McCourt’s pursuit of the platform, in what some are calling “the people's bid for TikTok”.
A recent report in Politico indicates that Oracle is close to reaching an agreement that would allow it to assist with running the platform. Other companies, such as Perplexity, have openly expressed interest in trying to help operate the social media app.
A lengthy list of candidates is interested in helping run TikTok as it barrels towards an April 5 ban in the US. But so far, ByteDance has given no indication it will give up complete control, creating concerns in Congress.
“A deal that keeps ByteDance in control wouldn’t just miss the mark on addressing national security concerns – it would directly violate the law,” wrote Republican Representative John Moolenaar in an email on behalf of the House Select Committee on China.
In that email, which also appeared as an opinion article in various outlets, Mr Moolenaar addressed rumours of deals that might keep TikTok afloat. So far, none satisfy the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, the legislation that seeks to ban TikTok from the US, he said. The law was challenged but upheld by the Supreme Court this year.
“ByteDance must fully divest its control of TikTok and have no say in its operations; nor can the two share data, content or algorithms,” he wrote, while adding that these terms are negotiable.
Mr Moolenaar added that a “bad deal” would undermine the law aimed at protecting US citizens.
“If ByteDance continues to control TikTok, US technology companies such as Google, Apple, and Oracle could soon find themselves facing shareholder lawsuits, leading to escalating penalties and massive fines,” he wrote.
Those lawsuits, however, would go against assurances from the US Justice Department that promised Google and Apple shortly after President Donald Trump extended the TikTok ban deadline that it would not enforce the laws that could hold both companies liable for the platform appearing in their respective app stores.
The National has contacted Mr Moolenaar for further comment.
Mark MacCarthy, a senior fellow at the Institute for Technology Law and Policy at Georgetown University in Washington, said TikTok may survive in the US, even if a forthcoming deal fails to satisfy Congressional requirements.
“My instinct is that US companies get a larger ownership share but ByteDance retains control,” he said.
Prof MacCarthy has studied previous legislative attempts to crack down on big technology firms, such as the federal government’s takedown of AT&T’s Bell System in the early 1980s.
Even if a deal does not satisfy Congress, he said it might only matter if the deal satisfies Mr Trump.
Thus far, Republicans in Congress have been unwilling to challenge the US President, who has credited the platform with helping him win over younger voters in last year's election. This could pave the way for him to save TikTok through a US company, even if does not retain full control of the platform.
“People are deriding President Trump’s approach as transactional, but he is simply taking a very broad view of the relationship and is willing to make concessions in one area in order to advance US interests in other areas,” Prof MacCarthy said, referring to China and ByteDance.
“Finding a way to allow TikTok to operate in the US might be a concession he would make in order to gain ground in other areas.”
Meanwhile, TikTok has continued a US advertising blitz as it seeks to portray the video-based social platform as essential for businesses and content creators. That campaign however, is not swaying Mr Moolenaar.
“[The campaigns] heighten suspicions about the true nature of TikTok’s current operations,” he wrote. “This is precisely why we should be even more vigilant – ByteDance’s control over TikTok has already jeopardised our national security.”
ByteDance and TikTok have repeatedly denied accusations from legislators and technology analysts that US data is compromised by the social media platform.
In 2023, TikTok's chief executive Shou Zi Chew dismissed concerns while testifying before Congress: “Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
EMILY%20IN%20PARIS%3A%20SEASON%203
%3Cp%3ECreated%20by%3A%20Darren%20Star%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Lily%20Collins%2C%20Philippine%20Leroy-Beaulieu%2C%20Ashley%20Park%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%202.75%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
RACE CARD
6.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Dirt) 1,200m
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,900m
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (D) 2,000m
8.15pm: Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (D) 1,600m
8.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,400m
Thor: Ragnarok
Dir: Taika Waititi
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Mark Ruffalo, Tessa Thompson
Four stars
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Stormy seas
Weather warnings show that Storm Eunice is soon to make landfall. The videographer and I are scrambling to return to the other side of the Channel before it does. As we race to the port of Calais, I see miles of wire fencing topped with barbed wire all around it, a silent ‘Keep Out’ sign for those who, unlike us, aren’t lucky enough to have the right to move freely and safely across borders.
We set sail on a giant ferry whose length dwarfs the dinghies migrants use by nearly a 100 times. Despite the windy rain lashing at the portholes, we arrive safely in Dover; grateful but acutely aware of the miserable conditions the people we’ve left behind are in and of the privilege of choice.
Oppenheimer
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Thailand v UAE, Tuesday, 4pm (UAE)
TV: Abu Dhabi Sports
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
US tops drug cost charts
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.
A%20QUIET%20PLACE
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match info
Southampton 2 (Ings 32' & pen 89') Tottenham Hotspur 5 (Son 45', 47', 64', & 73', Kane 82')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
