Top American social media company Twitter had talks with Chinese video-sharing app TikTok about an acquisition deal, according to media reports.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, preliminary talks happened between the two companies. It is still unclear whether Twitter will go forward with the deal.
It is to be noted that the Trump administration passed an executive order which banned TikTok parent company ByteDance from handling transactions in the US. The order will come into effect within 45 days.
The order recalls the Indian action on banning the app. An order was passed by the government of India in June that said, "The Government of India recently banned the use of TikTok and other Chinese mobile applications throughout the country."
In a statement, India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology asserted that they were "stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India," it added.
The order specifies that the popular Chinese app poses an imminent security threat to the country.
However, the US government has failed to produce any evidence to substantiate their claim.
It may also be noted that another tech giant Microsoft is also in the fray to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury.
"Following a conversation between Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and President Donald J. Trump, Microsoft is prepared to continue discussions to explore a purchase of TikTok in the United States," Microsoft said in its release.
Microsoft is set to move quickly to pursue discussions with TikTok`s parent company, ByteDance, in a matter of weeks, and in any event completing these discussions no later than September 15, the company further stated.
These discussions, the release said, are preliminary and there can be no assurance that a transaction that involves Microsoft will proceed.
