Trump-backed deal to save TikTok faces lingering security questions for Congress: Its a smokescreen
The Trump-backed deal to “save” TikTok fails to address core national security concerns, according to some experts – and even top lawmakers seem to be in the dark about whether it complies with Congress’s law that stated the app would be banned if it remained in Chinese hands.After a years-long legal saga, the Chinese-owned company on Thursday announced the creation of a new TikTok US joint venture governed by a majority-American board of directors.China-based ByteDance holds a 19.9% stake in the entity and will maintain ownership of TikTok’s algorithm, which will be licensed to the US entity and “retrained” on US user data.The terms fall short of Congress’s intentions to safeguard the app and mean that TikTok “will remain under ByteDance’s effective control,” according to Michael Sobolik, a top expert on China and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.“This isn’t a divestment, it’s a smokescreen,” he told The Post.
“The algorithm remains under Beijing’s watchful eye, and ByteDance has the strongest ownership position inside this new consortium.All the national security concerns remain, despite assurances to the contrary from the administration.”Federal law passed in 2024 required ByteDance to completely divest control of TikTok or face a total ban of the app in the US.
The legislation notably prohibits “any cooperation with respect to the operation of a content recommendation algorithm” or data-sharing between ByteDance and US-based owners.At the same time, the law leaves it up to the president to decide what constitutes a “qualified divestiture.”China hawks in Congress pushed for a ban due to concerns that Beijing would leverage TikTok to spy on and influence the app’s base of 200 million American users.TikTok went dark for a few hours after failing to meet the law’s January 2025 to change ownership.
But Trump on his first day in office signed an executive order keeping the platform up and running while the White ...