TikTok celebrated a milestone in Europe over the weekend, reporting 100 million active users across the continent. However, confusion reigns over the service’s status in the US, where privacy and security concerns.
According to NBC News, Oracle and TikTok reached an agreement to buy TikTok’s US operations. Neither company has confirmed the deal (NBC cited “a source with direct knowledge”), which has a deadline of 15 September.
What has been confirmed, however, is that Microsoft is officially out of the running. The company said Sunday night that TikTok parent ByteDance would not be selling TikTok to Microsoft.
“We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests,” Microsoft said in a statement. “To do this, we would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combatting disinformation, and we made these principles clear in our August statement. We look forward to seeing how the service evolves in these important areas.”
Microsoft entered the race to buy the Chinese social networking company only after President Trump stated that he would ban TikTok. Trump also said he wanted a finder’s fee as part of the deal, complicating the matter.
TikTok has solidified its Irish presence in recent months. Earlier this year, it announced the establishment of a European data privacy team would based in Ireland, overseen by the Office of the Data Protection Officer, as well as plans to invest €420 million in a data centre.
TechCentral Reporters & IDG News Service
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