In a recent development, Sen. Mark Warner expressed serious concerns regarding the possibility of software giant Oracle taking over the social media platform TikTok from its Chinese parent company ByteDance. The senator, who serves as the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, highlighted Oracle’s involvement as troublesome due to the company’s recent data breaches.
Sen. Warner’s apprehensions were outlined in a letter addressed to President Donald Trump earlier this week. He emphasized that the executive order issued by the president, granting ByteDance a second extension until June 19 to divest its TikTok app, not only violates the law but also raises red flags about Oracle’s interest in managing the popular social media platform following its two significant data breaches.
The senator underscored the importance of safeguarding national security and ensuring compliance with the law in any potential deal involving TikTok. He pointed out that the law passed by Congress only allowed for a single extension of no more than 90 days, making the second delay announced on April 4 a clear violation of the legislation.
The background to this concern stems from Congress passing a law in 2024, upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in January, which banned the TikTok app in the U.S. over national security concerns related to ByteDance, a Chinese company, operating the service and collecting Americans’ personal data. This led to the TikTok app being temporarily offline for about 12 hours when ByteDance missed its initial deadline to sell its stake.
Sen. Warner’s letter to President Trump also highlighted Oracle’s recent data breaches as a cause for alarm. The software company reportedly suffered breaches involving sensitive health records hosted by its Oracle Health division and a separate breach concerning Oracle Cloud. Despite Oracle’s denial of these incidents, reports indicate that the breaches occurred, prompting questions about the company’s ability to protect user data.
Oracle’s response to these concerns remains unclear, as the company did not immediately provide a comment in response to inquiries. Additionally, the Trump administration had yet to respond to Sen. Warner’s letter as of the most recent update.
The senator raised further worries about potential U.S. companies, including Amazon and private equity firm Blackstone, being considered for a TikTok deal. Reports suggest that these companies, along with Oracle, are part of the mix of potential investors in the divestiture. Warner also expressed concern over the potential linkage between TikTok divestiture discussions and White House negotiations with China on tariffs.
Overall, Sen. Mark Warner’s apprehensions about Oracle’s involvement in a potential TikTok deal underscore the importance of prioritizing national security and ensuring that sensitive user data is adequately protected. As discussions around the future of TikTok continue, the senator’s concerns serve as a reminder of the need for due diligence and transparency in any deal involving a popular social media platform with significant user data at stake.