President Donald Trump said that he would not mind if his friends Elon Musk (owner of the social network X) or Larry Ellison (co-founder of Oracle) bought TikTok. Earlier was reported that China may sell TikTok to Elon Musk to avoid a ban in the United States.
«Larry, let’s make a deal right in front of the press. Here’s what I’m thinking of proposing: buy TikTok and give half to the United States of America. Half, and we’ll give you the license. And they’ll have a great partner, the United States,» Trump said at a press conference to announce a $500 billion investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
@nbcnews President #Trump says he’s open to #ElonMusk buying TikTok “if he wanted to buy it.”
However, it is not yet clear how all this will work in practice and how the United States could legally operate a messaging platform without violating the First Amendment to the Constitution. This case is one of the first examples of how Silicon Valley’s closeness to Trump may manifest itself in the next four years.
On Monday, Trump signed an executive order directing his administration not to enforce the law against service providers subject to the forced sale requirements. These companies include Oracle, Apple, and Google. This exemption is valid for 75 days. However, legal experts argue that the executive order does not provide sufficient legal protection for these companies if they violate federal law, risking fines of $850 billion.
Nevertheless, Oracle seems to be counting on Trump’s assurances to help TikTok stay in the US market after the January 19 sale deadline. At the same time, the company has not yet commented on the issue directly.
TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is also considering other offers. Among them is an offer from billionaire Frank McCourt through his Project Liberty project, and now, presumably, from popular YouTube blogger MrBeast. His investment group receives legal support from a team that includes the brother of Trump’s nominee for attorney general.
As Trump was leaving the briefing, a journalist asked him if he had TikTok on his phone. «No, but I think I might install it,» Trump replied. «I think I’ll do it right now».
Source: The Verge
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