ByteDance fights potential U.S. TikTok ban

ByteDance, the Chinese internet giant that owns TikTok, has offered to sell all of the popular video app’s American operations as a way to save the business from being banned by the Trump administration, a person with knowledge of the matter said Saturday.

President Donald Trump had told reporters Friday that he was considering various options for TikTok, including banning it. White House officials have said the app may pose a national security threat because of its Chinese ownership. India, one of TikTok’s largest markets, banned the app in June, citing security concerns. That helped prompt the Trump administration to consider with greater urgency whether TikTok should be curbed in the United States as well.

It was not clear whether the Trump administration would accept the divestment as a sufficient response to its concerns. ByteDance had previously sought to keep a minority stake in TikTok’s American operations, but the administration rejected that, according to the person with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the discussions are confidential.

Microsoft and other companies have been in talks to buy TikTok, but a deal has not yet been reached, the person added. Many of the parties are waiting for Trump to take action, one of the people said.

The proposed divestment would not necessarily affect the company’s operations outside the U.S. TikTok has offices and users around the globe. It has said it has 100 million users in the U.S.

“While we do not comment on rumors or speculation, we are confident in the long-term success of TikTok,” a company representative said Saturday.

Pressure on TikTok has been building for months. Last fall, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States began examining ByteDance’s 2017 purchase of Musical.ly, a video app that was later merged into TikTok. Lawmakers and White House officials have also expressed concerns that TikTok data could be made available to the Chinese government, which the company has repeatedly denied.

TikTok has become the first Chinese internet service to win a large global following. And in the process, ByteDance, which was founded in 2012, has become one of the world’s most valuable startups. It was recently valued at around $100 billion, according to the research firm PitchBook.

But TikTok’s rise to prominence has coincided with a deepening rift between the U.S. and China over technology, trade, human rights and much else.

In a video message posted Saturday morning, Vanessa Pappas, TikTok’s U.S. general manager, said TikTok had 1,500 employees in the U.S.

“We’re not planning on going anywhere,” Pappas said.

Microsoft declined to comment.