Nearly five months after it was announced, a proposed hosting agreement between Oracle and TikTok is in permanent custody, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The agreement has been suspended “indefinitely” pending a broader review of the Trump administration’s China policy, the Magazine, referring to sources familiar with the situation.
Oracle announced in September that it intends to take over as TikTok’s ‘trusted technology partner’ for the United States as part of a broader arrangement by the Trump White House. But the deal has been widely criticized as a “glorified hosting deal” that has done little to address the underlying concerns of the Chinese government’s influence over the platform.
The Trump White House has strongly insisted on an agreement between TikTok and a US corporation, which began a legally dubious executive order on August 6, which sought to ban any transactions with the company unless security issues could be resolved . After extensive discussions, Treasury officials offered an Oracle partnership as the only way for TikTok to continue in the country. In the months following the announcement, the agreement was halted by a series of successful 6th order court challenges.
If President Biden deviates from Trump’s aggressive policy toward the app, TikTok is likely to continue its U.S. operations without any help from Oracle.
Biden’s technological policies are still taking shape, but the new president has shown some willingness to continue with Trump-era efforts to stem Chinese influence. Earlier this month, incumbent Trade Minister Gina Raimondo told Congress she saw “no reason” to remove Huawei from the Entity List, suggesting that Trump’s ban on Huawei telecommunications products is likely under the Biden government. will continue.