- US and Chinese officials confirm they have reached an ownership agreement over TikTok
- The deadline for TikTok to divest or be banned in the US was set to expire on Wednesday, September 17
- US President Donald Trump is expected to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on Friday, September 19
US and Chinese officials confirmed they have finally reached an agreement over TikTok’s ownership.
The move is set to bring an end to the US TikTok ban saga after about nine months of debate.
The popular Chinese video-sharing platforms went dark for about 24 hours on January 19, 2025, provoking a spike in usage of the best VPN services.
The Trump administration would then extend the deadline for TikTok to divest or be banned in the US three times, with the latest extension set to expire on Wednesday, September 17.
The push for banning TikTok stems from national security concerns. Especially, critics have argued that Beijing could access American users’ data while using the platform to push Chinese propaganda.
The details of the deal are yet to be made public, but US President Donald Trump is expected to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on Friday, September 19.
US-China TikTok deal – what we know
TikTok’s ownership agreement was set during a trade meeting in Madrid on Monday (September 15) and confirmed by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent – the BBC reported.
US President Trump also confirmed that the meeting went “very well” on his official Truth Social account.
“A deal was also reached on a ‘certain’ company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save. They will be very happy! I will be speaking to President Xi on Friday,” he also wrote.
While what the final deal will look like is still unclear, CBS News reported that the US tech company Oracle “could play a key role if a TikTok deal is finalized between the Trump administration and China.”
It still remains to be seen the extent to which TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is ready to give up and what this would mean to the data security of American users.
The prospect of a U-turn on the ban is, however, a welcome development for the over 170 million individuals and businesses actively using the platform in the US.
As we pointed out before, banning TikTok (or any other platform for that matter) could bring more harm than good by negatively impacting people’s digital rights, like free speech and access to information, while setting a legal precedent for more countries to follow.
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chiara.castro@futurenet.com (Chiara Castro)
