ByteDance rebuffs Microsoft's TikTok purchase proposal
(2020/09/14)
- Reference: 1600041968
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/09/14/bytedance_rebuffs_microsofts_tiktok_purchase/
- Source link:
UPDATE Microsoft has revealed that ByteDance, owner of TikTok, has declined to sell its US operations to the software giant.
“ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft,” said a brief Sunday post to [1]Microsoft’s corporate blog .
“We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests,” the post says, adding that Microsoft planned “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.”
Microsoft confirms pursuit of TikTok after Satya Nadella chats to Donald Trump [2]READ MORE
Microsoft signed off its blog post with “We look forward to seeing how the service evolves in these important areas."
US president Donald Trump has set a deadline of September 15th for TikTok to either be sold to a US company or shut down its operations in the country.
Trump also called for all-American security of the highest order to be brought to TikTok because he asserts the made-in-China social network creates [3]national security risks by collecting consumer data.
Which is deeply ironic given that Microsoft has experience as a steward of consumer data across many properties. The remaining American company known to be interested in acquiring TikTok, Oracle, has less experience of doing so and almost no consumer business. Oracle does, however, offer marketing software that would become more potent if infused with the records of millions of TikTok users. Oracle also has little or no experience handling the kinds of controversies that erupt endlessly on social media platforms. Last week, for example, a violent video thought to depict a suicide circulated widely on TikTok. The video led to calls for tighter moderation and protection of young users of the social network.
ByteDance and TikTok have not made any statements about the sale at the time of writing. Nor has Oracle. The Register will update this story if more information becomes available. ®
UPDATE 13:40 UTC September 14th The Wall Street Journal reports that Oracle will become ByteDance's "trusted technology partner" in the USA but won't actually buy TikTok. It's being speculated that "technology partner" means Oracle will host TikTok in its US cloud, but not operate the service. Such an arrangement would probably satisfy Oracle as it loves showing off its high-profile cloud clients, perhaps because its doesn't have many customers beyond users of its applications and database.
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[1] https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2020/09/13/microsoft-statement-on-tiktok/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/03/microsoft_confirms_tiktok_interest_after_nadella_trum_talks/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/07/us_wechat_tiktok_national_security_threats/
[4] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
“ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft,” said a brief Sunday post to [1]Microsoft’s corporate blog .
“We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests,” the post says, adding that Microsoft planned “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.”
Microsoft confirms pursuit of TikTok after Satya Nadella chats to Donald Trump [2]READ MORE
Microsoft signed off its blog post with “We look forward to seeing how the service evolves in these important areas."
US president Donald Trump has set a deadline of September 15th for TikTok to either be sold to a US company or shut down its operations in the country.
Trump also called for all-American security of the highest order to be brought to TikTok because he asserts the made-in-China social network creates [3]national security risks by collecting consumer data.
Which is deeply ironic given that Microsoft has experience as a steward of consumer data across many properties. The remaining American company known to be interested in acquiring TikTok, Oracle, has less experience of doing so and almost no consumer business. Oracle does, however, offer marketing software that would become more potent if infused with the records of millions of TikTok users. Oracle also has little or no experience handling the kinds of controversies that erupt endlessly on social media platforms. Last week, for example, a violent video thought to depict a suicide circulated widely on TikTok. The video led to calls for tighter moderation and protection of young users of the social network.
ByteDance and TikTok have not made any statements about the sale at the time of writing. Nor has Oracle. The Register will update this story if more information becomes available. ®
UPDATE 13:40 UTC September 14th The Wall Street Journal reports that Oracle will become ByteDance's "trusted technology partner" in the USA but won't actually buy TikTok. It's being speculated that "technology partner" means Oracle will host TikTok in its US cloud, but not operate the service. Such an arrangement would probably satisfy Oracle as it loves showing off its high-profile cloud clients, perhaps because its doesn't have many customers beyond users of its applications and database.
Get our [4]Tech Resources
[1] https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2020/09/13/microsoft-statement-on-tiktok/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/03/microsoft_confirms_tiktok_interest_after_nadella_trum_talks/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/07/us_wechat_tiktok_national_security_threats/
[4] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Let Trump buy it
Winkypop
Watch the kiddies jump ship.
sanmigueelbeer
It's being speculated that "technology partner" means Oracle will host TikTok in its US cloud, but not operate the service.
Ole McDonald is gonna loose his proverbial manure marbles when he hears this news.
`tis MS or go jump (ship).
Microsoft ensuring security?
"...ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combatting disinformation.." made me spit spray my soda out my nose.
MS regularly fails in the security front & has to update its entire OS in order to fix the latest batch of patches slapped like so many bandaids over openly bleeding wounds.
MS wouldn't know quality if you beat them with the OED opened to the right page & the definition highlighted in neon yellow.
MS has heard of privacy and rapes ours every time a Win10 machine gets turned on.
MS is damn near the very definition of disinformation: they've spread FUD so long that it's the glue that binds their heads so firmly up their arses.
MS can't be trusted not to shoot itself in the foot with an unloaded & unstrung longbow.