TikTok is trying to convince the US government to enable it to continue to stay under the ownership of Chinese technology company ByteDance by proposing to conduct its business at arm’s length and subject it to outside inquiry.
TikTok is also attempting, as it has for the past three years, to reassure the US government that private details of US citizens will not be made available or exploited by China’s Communist Party or any other entity.
One of these measures is an agreement for Oracle Corp to store the app’s users’ data in the United States and the establishment of a United States Data Security (USDS) division to oversee data protection and content moderation decisions. Following a series of objections from some American government officials, it suggested to provide new layers of oversight to the US government and expand Oracle’s role solely to ensure that TikTok’s technology infrastructure is separate from ByteDance.
TikTok’s proposal to form a proxy board that would run the USDS division independently of ByteDance is another effort. While the USDS board would have three members who would be vetted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a national security panel, ByteDance would have no influence over the board or its decisions.
TikTok is also looking to hire independent auditors and monitors who would be paid by the company but report to CFIUS as part of its calming efforts.
It is then up to the American government to decide if it’s placated by TikTok’s efforts or not.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.