TikTok Could Still Be Blocked By The US If ByteDance Had A Deal That Didn't Work Out

TikTok illustration (pixabay)

JAKARTA - The process of selling TikTok's business with Oracle in the United States (US) is still ongoing. However, there is a possibility that the TikTok agreement could be canceled, if there are conditions that are not met.

This was said by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who said that Oracle's agreement with TikTok could be canceled in the future, if there are conditions that are not approved. As a result, the creative video application will be blocked again.

"All code must be in the United States. Oracle will be responsible for rebuilding the code, cleaning up the code and ensuring it is safe in their cloud. And this will satisfy all our requirements," Mnuchin said as quoted by Reuters, Thursday, October 1.

Mnuchin's words refer to ByteDance's statement once the owner of TikTok said he would not sell the algorithm code for the creative video platform. According to anonymous sources, ByteDance will ask new TikTok owners to develop their own algorithms.

On the other hand, the Chinese government seems to support ByteDance's policy of not selling the TikTok algorithm. ByteDance uses the same source code for TikTok in all countries, but with modifications for different markets.

"In theory, the US team could copy the algorithm, but it will take some time for users to get used to using the copy algorithm," said the source.

"With the competition between similar applications getting hotter, it will be difficult to catch up if you need additional time," he continued.

The algorithm serves to provide recommendations and display videos. In other words, this algorithm is a secret that makes TikTok users feel at home using the application for a long time because it continues to display new content.

So far, the sale and purchase between ByteDance and Walmart Inc and Oracle Corp have not met a binding agreement. The three companies will form TikTok Global to operate in the United States.

Oracle and Walmart have a stake of 12.5 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the other 80 percent of shares will still be held by ByteDance, with the proportion of US investors in ByteDance amounting to 40 percent.

US President Donald Trump last September declared his approval of the business deal if the US were to take control, but would otherwise cancel it.

TikTok is currently still operating in the US because a court breaks a government ban asking the app to be blocked from the App Store and Play Store.