
ByteDance won't sell TikTok U.S. operations to Oracle or Microsoft: CGTN - fhrow4484
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-bytedance-tiktok-cgtn-idUSKBN2650MC
======
vergessenmir
I'm not sure how I feel about any of this. China is a legitimate security
concern. The practices of that government has always been predatory around I.P
and privacy.

But the US government has been very thin on details on how serious the
security concern actually is, and whether moving the infrastructure to an
American owned company would actually change anything.

The US appears to regulate data protection under a number of sector specific
regulatory acts. It will be difficult to restrict the flow of data between US
and China without a recognition of social media as a sector that needs its own
regulation without it affecting Google and Facebook.

Considering how powerful US tech companies are I can't see this sale making
Americans safer through a legal framework.

~~~
harryf
> China is a legitimate security concern. The practices of the government has
> always been predatory around I.P and privacy.

The same could be said of the US, perhaps with the exception of I.P. where
there hasn’t been a real need to date.

Either way, if this leads to a ban of TikTok in the US, it’s going to be
interesting to see how boards of teenagers react.

~~~
rvz
> Either way, if this leads to a ban of TikTok in the US, it’s going to be
> interesting to see how boards of teenagers react.

Take India for example. Either of the following is happening:

Users use VPNs to bypass the ban, Influencers move to Triller, Instagram
Reels, and YouTube Shorts, or just give up altogether.

What's certain is like all social networks, the teens just find the next craze
which the celebrities and influencers are. Even better if it makes them more
money than before.

I won't be surprised to see the same happening in the US.

------
mrkramer
If Oracle really acquires TikTok's US operations what will be business model
of TikTok? I guess not advertising because Oracle criticized Google's
adverting business model by buying billboards that said “Internet companies
betrayed you”, internet companies "sold your most sensitive and personal
information for $125 billion in advertising revenue last year.” [1]

[1][https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2017/12/06/oracle-v...](https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2017/12/06/oracle-
vs-google-lobbying-pr-campaign-goog.html)

~~~
roneythomas6
Oracle is a big player in ad tech. Some of its notable acquisitions are
Datalogix, Moat. TikTok has a pretty good algorithm for figuring what content
you like. Unlike fb and ig you don't even need to have a account to use
tiktok.

~~~
mrkramer
Oracle is providing business solutions like data analytics but still they are
not directly selling ads like Google and Facebook are.

And btw TikTok said they are not willing to sell their "algorithm".
[https://www.zdnet.com/article/bytedance-wont-allow-
tiktoks-a...](https://www.zdnet.com/article/bytedance-wont-allow-tiktoks-
algorithm-to-be-part-of-a-sale-report/)

[https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-
economy/article/3101362/t...](https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-
economy/article/3101362/tiktoks-algorithm-not-sale-bytedance-tells-us-source)

------
GEBBL
Whew, Microsoft really escaped something there. I don’t think tiktok would
have been a good fit for microsoft.

They are an even worse fit for oracle.

------
jpkeisala
If Whitehouse is pressuring TikTok to sell US TikTok to US company does that
mean US citizens will have it's own TikTok ?

~~~
swiley
I thought we already did?

~~~
jpkeisala
Aren't you able to see people outside of USA today in TikTok?

------
throwaway4good
AFAIK TikTok international is running on AWS. How does moving to Oracle make
things more secure?

~~~
searchableguy
See zoom moving to Oracle cloud a few months ago.

[https://www.oracle.com/corporate/pressrelease/zoom-
selects-o...](https://www.oracle.com/corporate/pressrelease/zoom-selects-
oracle-to-support-growth-042820.html)

~~~
onetimemanytime
US is officially behaving like a banana republic, note the "officially":
_Trump Lends Support To Billionaire Donor Larry Ellison As He Backs Oracle 's
Bid For TikTok_
[https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2020/08/19/trump-l...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2020/08/19/trump-
lends-support-to-billionaire-donor-larry-ellison-as-he-backs-oracles-bid-for-
tiktok)

~~~
acephal
Only way to outdo China is to outdo China

------
AznHisoka
If Oracle is just a tech partner, then how can they be 100% sure that
Bytedance is going to replace all their infrastructure with Oracle’s?
Bytedance could easily send spoof data to them.

In addition, since replacing infrastructure takes a lot of time, they could
easily keep on delaying things until the election to see if Biden is voted
into the White House.

------
villgax
At this point it's just hilarious how this issue in the name of national
security for TikTok is of concern but Facebook is not similar concern for
other countries.

~~~
dustinmoris
Agreed. It's the same irony around the fears of Huawei's 5G, whilst the entire
world IT is run on operating systems owned by US companies. I can't remember
the last time China tried to assassinate a country leader in South America, or
a country which has been bombed by Chinese drones, or a WikiLeaks document
which proved that China is spying on the entire world. On the other hand... I
genuinely can't remember a single year where the US didn't bomb a country..

~~~
tgv
I can't remember when the US built concentration camps specifically for a
remote Muslim minority, or when they built islands to falsely stake
territorial claims, or ...

Your arguments have been cherry-picked in a such a way, that "bad faith" comes
to mind.

~~~
devilcius
Some would argue Guantanamo Bay is a concentration camp:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp#...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp#Criticism_and_condemnation)

~~~
throw0101a
And many of America's own citizens criticize the US government for running it.
What happens to Chinese citizens when they comment negatively on the Uighur
camps?

The fact that the US does not always live up to the ideals its espouses is no
knock against those ideals.

The American system, for all of its faults, at least manages to select correct
at times to point closer to its ideals. Maybe I don't follow closely enough,
but I generally don't see anything like that happening. Perhaps a bit of 'de-
Maoification' of his personality cult at one point?

The embrace of a more market economy wasn't a good accepted for its own sake,
but more for its practical benefits, so I wouldn't count that.

~~~
rchaud
In some ways, that is the genius of Pax Americana. Give people the idea that
they have a voice to criticize and to change policy, and forever hold the
moral high ground over regimes that don't bother to make that pretense.

Then have politicians run for office promising to address that. Once they're
in office, they drop it completely, blaming bureaucracy and 'lack of political
will'. Then voters start all over again, with heads held high on the belief
that what they want could theoretically be possible with the next candidate.
Or the one after that.

The Obama administration came into office on a promise to close Guantanamo,
and offer a public option on healthcare. Neither came anywhere close to
fruition.

~~~
throw0101a
> _The Obama administration came into office on a promise to close Guantanamo,
> and offer a public option on healthcare. Neither came anywhere close to
> fruition._

For the first, talk to Congress (at least partially):

* [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/24/obama-guanta...](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/24/obama-guantanamo-bay-closure-republicans)

For the second, talk to Lieberman:

* [https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletter-art...](https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletter-article/senate-democrats-drop-public-option-woo-lieberman-and-liberals-howl)

Probably plenty of things to blame Obama for with regards to how the Executive
acted: these two are weak examples IMHO.

------
rektide
Hail overlord of social media moderation, Larry Ellison.

------
peteretep
> and decided to pursue a partnership with Oracle in hopes of avoiding a U.S.
> ban while appeasing the Chinese government

This makes more sense if you replace "Oracle" with "company run by a Trump
ally". I'd argue this makes Trump's "hard on China" start to look pretty
fishy, but I suspect anyone who cares made up their mind about who to vote for
a long time ago.

~~~
pjc50
Supporting evidence: [https://www.businessinsider.com/oracle-billionaire-
larry-ell...](https://www.businessinsider.com/oracle-billionaire-larry-
ellison-is-fundraising-for-donald-trump-2020-2?r=US&IR=T)

Everybody does it, but I still think that businesses fundraising for political
activity should basically be regarded as corruption.

~~~
iamnotarobotman
> Everybody does it, but I still think that businesses fundraising for
> political activity should basically be regarded as corruption.

Right. So perhaps Mike Bloomberg is corrupt then. Oh dear.

Supporting evidence: [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/13/mike-
bloombe...](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/13/mike-bloomberg-
spend-100m-biden-trump-florida)

You can also see how using 'guilt by association' here makes no sense with
Oracle if we keep thinking that 'Bloomberg LP is supporting Biden.'

~~~
pjc50
Yes, having a billionaire news magnate buy his way into the Democrat party is
also corrupt.

(indeed, this is why Trump's "drain the swamp" pitch was so effective, despite
being _even more_ corrupt!)

------
NicoJuicy
What worries me is this:

> Investors in TikTok’s parent company are reportedly pushing for Trump-
> friendly Oracle to acquire the viral-video app The investors, which include
> Sequoia Capital and General Atlantic, see Oracle’s bid as their best bet to
> get “a piece of the action” in TikTok, and recognize the advantages of the
> company’s political ties to the Trump administration, according to The
> Journal.

Source: [https://www.businessinsider.nl/tiktok-acquisition-
bytedance-...](https://www.businessinsider.nl/tiktok-acquisition-bytedance-
investors-back-oracle-microsoft-sequoia-general-atlantic-2020-8)

Although i don't think Oracle is capable though. They probably only want it to
run it on their cloud.

------
sudoaza
But the free market!!!

------
throw7
"TikTok is an amazing thing. Whatever it may be." \- D. Trump, USPOTUS

------
3327
Shut them down.

~~~
Udik
Actually, I wonder how 80 million active users would take it if one day their
app stopped working, because Trump wanted it, a few days or weeks before the
elections. It might not skew votes too much, but 80 million is _a lot_ of
people.

~~~
tonyedgecombe
I thought it was mostly kids on TikTok.

