On Thursday, US retail giant Walmart released a statement announced that they had teamed with Microsoft to buy TikTok, a popular social media platform currently owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. The app has come under fire over the past several months for ByteDance’s ties to the Chinese government, with President Trump declaring it a national security threat. On August 6, Trump signed an executive order that demanded Americans halt business with ByteDance over the following 45 days.
President Trump believes that the app has malicious intent, and could be used to track federal employees, build blackmail dossiers, and conduct corporate espionage. There have already been regulations and bans on US Military personnel’s use of the app. The executive order pushed for the sale of TikTok to a US company, with Trump insisting that he should receive a cut for his role in officiating the deal.
Read More: Walmart Says Teaming With Microsoft in Bid for TikTok
