A U.S. Congress is in the dark about whether a deal with TikTok complies with its law, according to lawmakers who initially supported the bill.
Under the recent agreement, ByteDance owns just 19.9% of TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, while Oracle and investment firms own the rest. This new entity, which will "retrain, test, and update" the algorithm on U.S. user data, has "decision-making authority for trust and safety policies and content moderation."
Lawmakers like John Moolenaar and Ro Khanna remain uncertain about whether this deal prevents Chinese influence over TikTok's algorithms, as well as guarantees American users' data security.
Senate Ed Markey stated that the new agreement raises many more questions than answers. He questioned why the White House hasn't provided additional details regarding the algorithm's freedom from Chinese influence, despite repeated requests for information.
Additionally, some lawmakers like Frank Pallone see Trump's allies such as Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison benefiting financially from this deal, which has raised concerns about compliance with the law and national security.
TikTok announced Tuesday that its US service is now part of the separate TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. The sparse details in the press release shed little light on the outstanding questions from the time the deal was first announced.
President Donald Trump played a significant role in the negotiations, discussing the deal with China's President Xi Jinping and negotiating in front of the media along with Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison.
The lack of transparency reeks, Congress has a responsibility to investigate this deal, demand transparency, and ensure that any arrangement truly protects national security while keeping TikTok online.
Under the recent agreement, ByteDance owns just 19.9% of TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, while Oracle and investment firms own the rest. This new entity, which will "retrain, test, and update" the algorithm on U.S. user data, has "decision-making authority for trust and safety policies and content moderation."
Lawmakers like John Moolenaar and Ro Khanna remain uncertain about whether this deal prevents Chinese influence over TikTok's algorithms, as well as guarantees American users' data security.
Senate Ed Markey stated that the new agreement raises many more questions than answers. He questioned why the White House hasn't provided additional details regarding the algorithm's freedom from Chinese influence, despite repeated requests for information.
Additionally, some lawmakers like Frank Pallone see Trump's allies such as Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison benefiting financially from this deal, which has raised concerns about compliance with the law and national security.
TikTok announced Tuesday that its US service is now part of the separate TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. The sparse details in the press release shed little light on the outstanding questions from the time the deal was first announced.
President Donald Trump played a significant role in the negotiations, discussing the deal with China's President Xi Jinping and negotiating in front of the media along with Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison.
The lack of transparency reeks, Congress has a responsibility to investigate this deal, demand transparency, and ensure that any arrangement truly protects national security while keeping TikTok online.
tiktok is literally still dodgy about their algorithm & data protection... congress needs to step up & get some answers 
lawmakers like john moolenaar & ro khanna are right to be skeptical - this whole deal just smells fishy 
oracle chairman larry ellison profiting off of trump's allies? no thanks 
the lack of transparency is basically a national security risk... tiktok needs to come clean ASAP or congress should take action 
... Reminds me of the whole WhatsApp saga back in 2014 when there were similar concerns about data security and foreign ownership... I mean, why do we keep repeating the same mistakes? 
This TikTok deal is just another example of how our lawmakers are too slow to catch up with the times... Don't get me wrong, I'm all for innovation and free markets, but someone's gotta make sure that national security isn't compromised in the process 
... It's like they say: "you can't put a price on your freedom"... or something like that...