TikTok is getting closer to a security deal with the US to avoid being sold - Pi...

TikTok is getting closer to a security deal with the US to avoid being sold

TikTok is getting closer to a security deal with the US to avoid being sold

18 hours ago

TikTok and the Biden Administration have drafted a preliminary agreement to resolve national security concerns posed by the Chinese-owned video app, New York Times reported on Monday.

According to the report, which cites sources familiar with the situation, the two parties have worked out the foundations of a deal in which TikTok will make changes to its data security and governance without requiring its owner, Beijing-headquartered ByteDance, to sell it.

But it still faces hurdles over the terms, as the platform negotiates to keep operating in the US without major changes to its ownership structure.

Concerns over the safety of American user data have kept TikTok, one of the most downloaded apps in the world, under the microscope in Washington, DC for quite some time.

In 2020, then-President Trump ordered a ban on TikTok and intended to force the sale of its US operations to a US-owned investment group. As part of that process, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. ordered ByteDance to divest of its US operations.

TikTok has been in talks with CFIUS to resolve the country's concerns that the software poses a threat to national security, but negotiations have dragged on as officials wrapped their arms around complex technical questions about the app. 

They edged closer to a detailed agreement in recent months, the report said, citing people with knowledge of the discussions.

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