The TikTok saga has been an interesting one. From an outright ban in India to the political firestorm it’s caused in the US, the video-sharing app has consistently been a source of controversy. Due to security concerns stemming from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, the White House stated the company must be sold to continue operations in the US. Now, it would appear the saga is coming to a close, with Oracle winning the bid to acquire TikTok. Well, kind of. The deal isn’t official just yet though, as the White House still needs to approve the deal to ensure it will provide the security necessary for Americans to feel safe using the app. The deal has gotten Oracle quite a bit of attention, as the company’s stock has already jumped eight points since announcing the news. According to Microsoft, their proposal was pretty robust, with plans to significantly bolster security, as well as helping to quell the misinformation concerns on the app. Unfortunately, that’s not what they were looking for. Truthfully, the likelihood of Oracle taking over any of the day-to-day operations is low, and the deal essentially boils down to a hosting partnership to get around President Trump’s executive order. Whether this will force the social media app to be more secure or less invasive remains to be seen, but without any significant change of ownership, we wouldn’t count on it. But hey, Oracle CEO is Larry Ellison is a big Trump supporter, and this deal at least looks like a victory if you don’t think about it too hard. And in 2020, that’s all that matters to the White House.
