Millions of TikTok users in the United States will be relieved to hear President Donald Trump say that China had agreed to approve a deal on the future of the social media platform in the US.

With US politicians worried that TikTok poses a national security threat and spreads propaganda, Congress passed a bill last year that banned the short video app unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, sold its US business.

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But Trump had extended the deadline by which ByteDance was to divest from the platform or face the promised ban, and even went so far as to raise the matter with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a call on Friday.

So, why does a deal on this app matter so much to Trump?

Presenter: Tom McRae

Guests:

Richard Weitz – senior non-resident associate fellow at the NATO Defense College

Einar Tangen – senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation

Maria Curi – technology policy reporter for Axios, focusing on government oversight of social media platforms