Chinese-owned social media giant TikTok is reportedly close to striking a deal with the Biden administration to resolve national security concerns, but there are still hurdles to bypass.
The New York Times reports that the Biden administration and the Chinese-owned short-form video app TikTok have drafted a preliminary agreement to resolve national security concerns but certain terms are still being negotiated. The major issues in the agreement reportedly relate to how the platform will continue to operate in the U.S. without major changes to its ownership structure, as Chinese firm ByteDance remains in control of the company.
TikTok has reportedly agreed to make changes to its data security and governance without requiring ByteDance to sell it, said three sources with knowledge of the situation. The two sides are reportedly still working out the issues in the deal, with the Justice Department leading negotiations with TikTok and its second in command, Lisa Monaco. Many of the DOJ’s concerns related to terms it believes are not tough enough on China.
The Treasury Department, which plays a major role in approving deals relating to national security, is also skeptical that the potential agreement with TikTok can sufficiently resolve national security issues.
Many conservatives are still skeptical of the deal, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee, who said in a statement. “Anything short of a complete separation” of TikTok from ByteDance “will likely leave significant national security issues regarding operations, data and algorithms unresolved.”
A Treasury Department spokesperson, which leads the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, said that as a general matter, the committee “is committed to taking all necessary actions within its authority to safeguard U.S. national security.”
TikTok did not comment on the talks but said it was “confident” that it was “on a path to fully satisfy all reasonable U.S. national security concerns.”
Breitbart News recently reported that U.S. executives are fleeing the company due to China’s iron hand in managing American operations.
Forbes reports that former TikTok employees allege that at least five senior leaders hired at the firm in the last two years have left upon discovering that they would not be able to significantly influence decision-making at the company. Three of the former department heads who spoke with Forbes anonymously said that after taking their positions, they learned that they would be expected to follow explicit directions from the Beijing office of TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance.
One former leader stated: “A lot of our guidance came from HQ, and we weren’t necessarily a part of strategy building. I’ve been in this industry for a long time. I don’t want to be told what to do.” Another former employee who reported o a strategy team based in Beijing said that a fourth department head also recently left the firm after a corporate reorganization caused that person to report to ByteDance leadership in Beijing rather than U.S.-based TikTok leadership.
The employee noticed a theme among the departures, stating: “Folks are hired in leadership positions in the U.S. and then their scope is reduced in favor of folks in Beijing,” One high-profile departure was Roland Cloutier, who served as the company’s Global Chief Security Officer until July. Cloutier reportedly left the role as the company created a new department to manage U.S. user data, which TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew stated, “changes the scope of the Global Chief Security Officer (CSO) role.”
Read more at the New York Times here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan