Summary<\/p>\n
Sen. Ed Markey is requesting answers about TikTok’s spin-off deal four months after it was finalized.
\n The Massachusetts Democrat says the arrangement may violate a 2024 law meant to protect American users.
\n Markey questions whether ByteDance retains too much control over the app’s algorithm and US operations.<\/p>\n
\n AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.<\/p>\n
New York\u00a0\u2014\u00a0\n <\/p>\n
\n Four months after TikTok\u2019s US assets were spun off<\/a> into a new joint venture to avert a ban, Sen. Ed Markey says Americans still don\u2019t have enough information about whether the deal addresses national security concerns related to the popular video app.\n <\/p>\n \n Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, on Friday sent letters to TikTok US and Oracle claiming the spin-off deal violated \u201cthe spirit, if not the letter\u201d of a 2024 law meant to protect Americans on TikTok. The letters demand information about the group\u2019s relationship to TikTok\u2019s Chinese parent company ByteDance.\n <\/p>\n \n The letters could reignite lingering questions about the yearslong effort to secure TikTok\u2019s future in the United States while protecting American users.\n <\/p>\n \n CNN has reached out to TikTok and Oracle for comment.\n <\/p>\n \n President Donald Trump, during his first term, vowed to ban the app. In 2024, then-President Joe Biden signed a law requiring that the US version of the app be spun off from ByteDance or be banned in the United States. Lawmakers feared that China could steal US users\u2019 data or manipulate the content they see on the app. But during his second term, Trump repeatedly delayed enforcement of the law as he sought a deal<\/a> to transfer control of the app\u2019s US operations to American ownership.\n <\/p>\n \n One day before the ban was set to go into effect in January, a deal was finalized<\/a> to transfer control of TikTok\u2019s US user data and most of its US operations to a joint venture half owned<\/a> by a consortium of investors comprised of Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake and Emirati-backed investment firm MGX. Existing ByteDance investors held just over 30% of the joint venture, and 19.9% was retained by ByteDance, according to the group.\n <\/p>\n \n The joint venture is led by CEO Adam Presser \u2014 who previously oversaw efforts to secure US TikTok users\u2019 data \u2014 and overseen by a board consisting of investor representatives as well as TikTok CEO Shou Chew.\n <\/p>\n \n But critics questioned if the arrangement fully addressed the core national security concerns that motivated the TikTok ban legislation in the first place because ByteDance was set to retain control of some of the US app\u2019s operations. The TikTok ban-or-sale law prohibited \u201cany cooperation with respect to the operation of a content recommendation algorithm\u201d between ByteDance and a new potential American ownership group.\n <\/p>\n \n The joint venture said it planned retrain TikTok\u2019s algorithm on US user data and moderate content for US users and that Oracle would oversee storage of Americans\u2019 data. However, the ByteDance-controlled global TikTok entity would continue to manage e-commerce, advertising and marketing on the new US platform. And the new joint venture said it would continue to license the TikTok algorithm from ByteDance before retraining and reviewing it, something Chinese officials had previously suggested<\/a> could help to ensure the deal would be approved by Beijing.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cPresident Trump managed to keep TikTok online only by ignoring the law\u2019s central goal and relying on vague, unproven safeguards to address the legitimate risks to national security,\u201d Markey said in his Friday letter to TikTok US. \u201cCongress and the American people need to understand if and how this deal protects against Chinese influence over TikTok\u2019s content.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The joint venture said in a January statement that it would \u201coperate under defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurances for U.S. users.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n But Markey questioned the effectiveness of those plans, saying the group hasn\u2019t released sufficient information about how it\u2019s retraining the algorithm and questioning \u201cwhether source code review can meaningfully identify algorithmic manipulation, especially if, for example, China attempted to hide malicious code within an urgent security patch,\u201d in his letter to Oracle.\n <\/p>\n \n The letters request, by June 18, information including a copy of Oracle\u2019s contract with TikTok US and a copy of TikTok US\u2019s contract with ByteDance to license the app\u2019s algorithm. He also requested details on how the group reviews code from ByteDance, retrains the algorithm for US users and any other models or tools the group licenses from the Chinese company.\n <\/p>\n