TikTok owner ByteDance is reportedly still seeking non-sell options to remain in the US after the Supreme Court upheld a national security law that would require TikTok's US operations to be shut down or sold to a non-foreign adversary.
Last weekend, TikTok briefly went down in the US, but came back online hours later after Donald Trump reassured ByteDance that US law would not be enforced. Shortly after Trump took office, he signed an executive order that delayed enforcement for 75 days while he consulted with advisers to “pursue a resolution that protects national security while saving a platform used by 170 million Americans.” .
Trump's executive order did not suggest he intended to try to override the national security law's ban or sales requirements. But that won't stop ByteDance, board member Bill Ford told attendees at the World Economic Forum (WEF), from exploring a possible non-sale option that “could involve a change of control locally to ensure it complies with US law,” Bloomberg reported. .
It is currently unclear how ByteDance could negotiate a no-sell option without receiving a ban. Joe Biden's extensive efforts through Project Texas to keep US TikTok data out of the hands of China-controlled ByteDance without forcing a sale hit a dead end, prompting Congress to pass the national security law that requires a ban or sale.
At the WEF, Ford said ByteDance's board is “optimistic, we will find a solution” that prevents ByteDance from having to give up a significant portion of TikTok's business.
“There are a number of alternatives that we can talk to President Trump and his team about that fall short of selling the company that would allow the company to continue to operate, perhaps with some change of control, but not have to sell. Ford said.
