A new agreement between the U.S. and China aims to prevent a ban on TikTok by restructuring its U.S. operations. A senior White House official announced on Saturday that the deal, which must be finalized by an extended deadline in April, would allow China’s owner, ByteDance, to choose one of seven board members for the new U.S. entity, with Americans holding the other six seats.
This agreement comes after months of tense negotiations and a 2024 law passed by Congress that mandated a sale of TikTok’s U.S. assets or a ban by January 2025. President Donald Trump, who has credited TikTok with helping his reelection campaign, has delayed the ban to allow for a resolution.
Key Details of the Agreement
- Data Security: All data from American users will be stored in the U.S. on a cloud computing infrastructure run by American firm Oracle. This directly addresses previous concerns that China could access sensitive U.S. data.
- Algorithm Control: The official stated that TikTok’s content-recommendation algorithm will be “retrained from the ground up” using only U.S. data. This new algorithm will be operated in the U.S., outside of ByteDance’s control, to prevent potential manipulation of what Americans see on the platform.
- Ownership and Governance: The new U.S. entity would be majority-owned by American investors. ByteDance would hold less than 20% of the stock in a joint venture controlling the U.S. operations. The board of directors would include members with national security and cybersecurity experience.
Lawmaker and Public Reactions
The details of the deal have sparked mixed reactions. While the agreement represents a breakthrough in U.S.-China relations, some lawmakers remain skeptical. Representative Frank Pallone, a Democrat, expressed concern that the deal might still allow China to access Americans’ data, calling for more transparency.
It’s currently unclear if this agreement will be considered a “full divestiture” as required by the 2024 law. The official said that Trump would extend the enforcement deadline for an additional 120 days, with the next deadline for a final agreement now set for April.
