Kaya Yurieff: Reporter on TikTok's blackout in the United States

Donald Trump has given TikTok the all-clear to continue operating in the US, despite a federal ban.

The Chinese based-social media platform "went dark" yesterday and was removed from app stores, but says it's now restoring access following Trump's announcement.

The incoming US President says he wants to do a deal to see it half-owned by a US company, to allay security concerns. 

Reporter from the technology website The Information joins the show to discuss the could-be American owners of the app, and the details that need to be ironed out for a deal to take place. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
In breaking news happening right now in the United States,
TikTok has reportedly just gone live again. TikTok has just
gone live again after going dark overnight. This comes moments
after Trump started essentially negotiating a deal to save TikTok
live on his True social platform, saying he wanted a

(00:20):
fifty to fifty US China joint venture and he wanted
it all back online in time for his inaugurations. America
can watch kaya urif is yuif, I should say, is
with us. He's a reporter at the Information covering the
creator economy. Good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Good morning, thanks so much for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
So just now it's come back on. So it's full
access right now. Are you on TikTok?

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yes, this morning it was glitching for me a little bit,
but now it is fully back, which is just this
story is just giving all of us whiplash because no
one expected it to be restored quite this soon.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
What exactly was it was TikTok's to say decision to
go dark, wasn't it. They didn't have to do that.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah, So earlier this week, my colleague and I Sylvia
Varnam O'Regan, who is a Kiwi We reported that TikTok
was decided to go dark proactively to shield its service
providers from liability because the law actually doesn't ask TikTok
to go offline and it makes it illegal for its
service providers to continue providing service. So TikTok took that step.

(01:27):
But TikTok disappeared from the app store, so those service
providers did also cut off service as well as TikTok yesterday.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
So does that name now that it's gone live again,
that it's potentially putting itself at legal risk.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Yes, but it sounds like from the statement from TikTok
that they were provided the necessary clarity from President Trump
that the service providers felt that they were not face penalties.
What's so interesting, though, is we're still on Sunday and
it's still the Biden administration, so Trump does not take
office until tomorrow, so it is quite shocking to see
them take this step and feel that those assurances are,

(02:05):
you know, enough for them to not get fined.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
Who do you think, because Trump's talking about a fifty
to fifty joint benja, who do you think would be
the obvious contender from the American side.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
It's so interesting because there's been you know, in twenty
twenty when Trump kicked off this whole conversation and wanted
to ban TikTok. Initially there was Walmart, there was Oracle,
there were these big American companies. And this time around,
you know, there have been some buyers. You know, Kevin
O'Leary from Shark Tank Fame has teamed up with billionaire

(02:34):
former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt on a bid.
So there are you know, mister Beast, the biggest YouTuber
has expressed interest in, you know, working with investors. But
these are all kind of ideas that have been floated perplexity,
and AI company has said they're interested in buying TikTok.
So there are certainly people who are interested, but the

(02:54):
question is, you know, what is the cost? How are
they going to hammer out a deal? So there's a
lot of open questions still and whether a fifty percent
ownership position would satisfy the law.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
Just finally, a lot of people might be listening to
this thinking, do you know what, I just don't care.
It's a bunch of people dancing in front of their phones,
so what if you can't see it? Right now.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
Yeah, So, I mean there are millions of creators who
make their livelihoods through TikTok, or at least a majority
of them. Same thing with small businesses, so the economic
impact of this would really be enormous, as well as
the community of users who love TikTok who have found
you know, community and niches there and entertainment. So it
really has gone so much far beyond dance videos but

(03:40):
into mental health and fitness and all these other categories.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
All right, thanks so much for that, and we'll wait
and see what happens. Obviously a lot happening with Donald
Trump involved. That is a kaya Yurie if she's a
reporter of the information covering the creator economy. For more
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