The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that some administration officials are discussing the forced sale of TikTok’s U.S. unit at the Foreign Investment Review Committee (CFIUS) under the Treasury Department, judging that it poses a threat to national security as long as it is owned by a Chinese company.A source familiar with the issue said that although officials from the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Justice who participated in the CFIUS are actively supporting the forced sale, the Ministry of Finance is cautious due to concerns over lawsuits.TikTok is a video sharing platform owned by China Byte Dance and has more than 100 million users in the United States alone.Former President Donald Trump earlier issued an executive order to sell the TikTok U.S. business in 2020 on the grounds that American personal information could be transferred to the Chinese government and abused.
Since taking office, President Joe Biden has promised to cancel Trump’s various measures against TikTok on the grounds that it is impossible to enforce them and come up with a comprehensive solution, but has yet to produce results.
CFIUS, which has been negotiating with TikTok since 2020, has agreed to let TikTok US Data Security, a subsidiary of TikTok, manage American user information through negotiations.TikTok will allow only reviewed employees of its subsidiaries to access American user information, monitoring by third parties, including Oracle, a U.S. company in charge of server operations, and supervision through a three-member committee composed of U.S. security experts. Oracle has also been given the authority to investigate TikTok’s content recommendation algorithm.Nevertheless, the U.S. government and Congress are still raising regulations on TikTok, fearing that Chinese government pressure could be applied to it.The Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Justice banned the use of TikTok on government-owned smartphones and other electronic devices, and Congress passed a bill banning the use of TikTok on federal-owned devices. More than 10 states, led by Republican governors, have also banned the use of TikTok in local government-owned devices.In addition, bills have been proposed in the House and Senate to ban TikTok’s business in the United States, regardless of camp.
KS CHOI
ASIA JOURNAL
