TikTok saved from ban after ByteDance and Xi agree to divest control of US app operations, moderation, and data

TikTok has been saved from a ban in America after ByteDance agreed to divest control over its US operations, algorithms, and data, and Chinese leader Xi and President Trump came to an agreement on this matter.

TikTok has been under pressure after President Biden signed the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” (H.R. 7521) into law in April 2024, which would have forced the app to leave the US market. The argument behind the ban was that foreign ownership and control of the app and user data posed a national security threat.

After appeals and deadline extensions, President Trump signed an executive order on September 25, 2025, extending the ban another 120 days after he was given sufficient proof that a divestiture of TikTok’s US operations was possible to allow the handover to occur unimpeded.

What this will entail is the transfer of US operations to a joint venture majority-owned and controlled by United States persons. ByteDance is allowed to own under 20%, while unnamed investors will be allowed to own the remainder.

Oracle will be tasked with monitoring the safety of TikTok US. Additionally, all algorithms, code, and content moderation decisions will come under US purview. User data will also be retained in US-based storage provided by Oracle.

This divestiture will see the lone foreign social media platform with broad use in this country come under US control, enabling security agencies to gain full access to the activities of its users, much like the NSA's ability to wiretap US cellular providers. This might also give President Trump the ability to vet any algorithms related to politically targeted ads served on TikTok US.