Discussion

• @financialtimes @financialtimes on x

  FT Exclusive: Larry Ellison's Oracle has entered the race to acquire TikTok, the Chinese-owned short video app also sought by Microsoft https://www.ft.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @sherman4949 Alex Sherman on x

  I can confirm FT's report that Oracle is interested in TikTok in conjunction with some U.S. VC firms who are already investors in TikTok — and add that talks are ongoing and have progressed in recent days. https://www.cnbc.com/...

• @jakebackpack Jacob Bacharach on x

  Lol ah yes Oracle famous for its friendly interfaces, good design, and intuitive ease of end use. https://twitter.com/...

• @jessicalessin Jessica Lessin on x

  One advantage Oracle could have is being more flexible on how much they buy. Microsoft is going to push to own as much as possible, beyond the U.S. business. Oracle may entice ByteDance and its investors with a different approach. $msft

• @jessicalessin Jessica Lessin on x

  Enter Oracle (who loves messaging with Microsoft). They need to jumpstart their cloud biz. TikTok would help. General Atlantic and Sequoia are backing. $orcl

• @jessicalessin Jessica Lessin on x

  While Microsoft is probably favored by the government and ByteDance, Microsoft is more likely to box out investors from owning as much as they want after a sale. And the last thing these investors want to do is to give away the crown jewel in a fire sale with one bidder.

• @jessicalessin Jessica Lessin on x

  Here's what you need to know about state of play with TikTok and why Oracle is suddenly in the running. There are really *four* players in this deal, the buyer, ByteDance management, ByteDance investors and the U.S. government... (thread)

• @mmasnick Mike Masnick on x

  Oracle has been *the* leading company behind the scenes trying to destroy #Section230. Imagine what havoc that would create if they owned a massive user generated content platform. https://twitter.com/...

• @edbott Ed Bott on x

  Yes, because no company has its finger on the pulse of the youth market quite like (checks notes) (checks notes again) (seriously?) (sighs) Oracle. https://twitter.com/...

• @s8mb Sam Bowman on x

  The case for dropping rocks into our harbours because other nations have rocky coasts. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @karlbode Karl Bode on x

  I'll assume, then, that we're going to ban every Chinese-made smart TV? 99% of IOT devices? Every Chinese-made router? These arguments act as if Chinese hardware isn't in absolutely everything, or that banning one app actually accomplishes anything. https://t.co/qLVkuCucLZ

• @lmatsakis Louise Matsakis on x

  This is interesting, but I feel like it doesn't acknowledge enough how Trump's actions on TikTok are part of a very disastrous overall policy toward China https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @marygao Mary Gallagher on x

  The principle of reciprocity is important. China shuts out every internet company that is not home grown and subject to (complicit in) increasing censorship/surveillance, why should the US allow Chinese companies access to our market?https://www.nytimes.com/ ...

• @jgebbia Joe Gebbia on x

  “The privilege of full internet access — the open internet — should be extended only to companies from countries that respect that openness themselves.” Best summary yet on TikTok: https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @nytopinion @nytopinion on x

  “Behind the TikTok controversy is an important struggle between two dueling visions of the internet” writes @superwuster https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @wesyang Wesley Yang on x

  This has always seemed self evident to me; bizarre that anyone would think otherwise https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @msmelchen Melissa Chen on x

  The asymmetry is unfair & ought no longer be tolerated. The privilege of full internet access - the open internet - should be extended only to companies from countries that respect that openness themselves. Let's not be suckers. Well done @superwuster https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @zhonggg Raymond Zhong on x

  Tim Wu: “Some think that it is a tragic mistake for the United States to violate the principles of internet openness that were pioneered in this country. But there is also such a thing as being a sucker.” https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @yaqiu @yaqiu on x

  I think the key here is how we counter, punish China's techno-nationalism without triggering a race to the bottom, how we promote and maintain a free rest-of-the-internet while isolating the Chinese govt. It takes careful and coordinated policy planning. https://www.nytimes.com/.…

• @freddylim @freddylim on x

  For years, the #CCP's been exploiting the rules of free market, using internet as a mean of state control and propaganda. Taiwan's no stranger to this. Not defending Trump's rather aggressive approach, but it's time the world do something about it. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @kenroth Kenneth Roth on x

  “In China, the foreign equivalents of TikTok and WeChat—video & messaging apps such as YouTube and WhatsApp—have been banned for years..China keeps a closed & censorial internet economy at home while its products enjoy full access to open markets abroad.” https://www.nytimes.com/…

• @hotlinejosh Josh Kraushaar on x

  “The threatened bans on TikTok and WeChat, whatever their motivations, can also be seen as an overdue response, a tit for tat, in a long battle for the soul of the internet.” https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @mala Danny O'Brien on x

  To sacrifice individual freedom of speech and association — wherever those people live — to pursue foreign policy goals is to misunderstand the whole basis of human rights *and* the promise of the Internet in expanding those rights: https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @lanceulanoff Lance Ulanoff on x

  An important read from a respected Internet observer. I don't know if the point here is so much that TikTok needs to be banned as that it's time to demand China play by the same digital rules as the rest of the world. TikTok may be collateral damage. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @kantrowitz Alex Kantrowitz on x

  “Critics say we shouldn't abandon the ideal of an open internet. But there is such a thing as being a sucker.” https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @onlyyoontv Eunice Yoon on x

  Oracle enters race to buy @tiktok_us' operations US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, sources tell @FT. @Oracle working with a group of US investors that already own a stake in ByteDance, including General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital, the people added. https://www.ft.com/...

• @alantsen Alan Tsen on x

  Lol, can't wait for the Oracle's sales team to get a hold of TiKTok. “Download our white paper to find out how Oracle TikTok Enterprise can drive 13.75% more revenue for your business!” https://twitter.com/...