On Sunday, Vice President JD Vance stated in an interview with Fox News that the U.S. government has successfully separated TikTok’s American business from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. Vance expressed optimism about TikTok’s future development in the United States post-separation.
According to Vance, with TikTok now being detached from its parent company, the data security of American users will be safeguarded, ensuring that the algorithm is not manipulated by the Chinese government or used for propaganda purposes.
“I am very confident that we have successfully carved out TikTok’s U.S. business from the global operations of the company and have control over user data security. We can ensure that the algorithm will not be used as a propaganda tool by foreign governments,” Vance said.
TikTok has long been under scrutiny in the U.S. due to data collection controversies and its relationship with ByteDance and the Chinese Communist Party.
Statistics show that TikTok has 170 million users in the U.S., approximately half of the country’s population. To prevent Chinese access to user data, monitoring of American citizens, or other related activities, former President Biden signed the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Apps Control Act” (PAFACA) in 2024. The act prohibited TikTok from being listed on U.S. app stores and specified conditions for its sale.
As a result, the split of TikTok’s business has been delayed for several months until last week when President Trump signed an executive order approving the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to American and global investors to ensure the company’s continued operation in the U.S. According to the agreement, the valuation of TikTok’s U.S. business reaches up to $14 billion.
Vance emphasized, “From a national security perspective, the way we structured this transaction is for American investors and businesspeople to determine the actual operations of TikTok.”
In an executive order on September 25th, Trump stated that a new joint venture company would oversee TikTok’s U.S. business, with investors including Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX Investment Fund.
American investment groups initially backing ByteDance, such as General Atlantic, Susquehanna, and Sequoia Capital, are expected to invest in the new TikTok U.S. company.
Under the transaction terms, the U.S. federal government neither holds shares in TikTok’s U.S. business nor possesses any special control rights to influence major decisions, with ByteDance’s ownership stake being less than 20%.
Vance remarked, “Ultimately, I believe that over 80% of the company’s ownership will be held by American investors and partners. Chinese individuals or entities will not hold a significant share of ownership in the company.”
On the day Trump signed the executive order, Chinese leader Xi Jinping approved the deal.
(This article references reports from Fox News and CNBC)