US lawmaker says licensing deal for TikTok algorithm would raise serious concerns

WASHINGTON - The chair of the House Select Committee on China said on Oct 16 that a licensing agreement for use of the TikTok algorithm, as part of a deal by China-based ByteDance to sell US assets of the short video app, would raise “serious concerns”.

Representative John Moolenaar, a Republican, is waiting for a briefing to get more details on the deal that White House officials said previously would include the new owners of TikTok’s US assets licensing the algorithm.

“I think any time you have (China) with leverage over the algorithm, I think that’s a problem,” Mr Moolenaar said at an event at the Hudson Institute.

TikTok did not immediately comment.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Sept 25 declaring that

the plan to sell TikTok’s US operations

to a consortium of US and global investors meets the national security requirements set out in a 2024 law and gave them 120 days to complete the transaction.

“I just believe you have to have a new algorithm, and I don’t know that you can reprogramme,” Mr Moolenaar added, pointing to technology experts who say it is unclear precisely what is in the algorithm. “I would say it’s still very much a work in progress.”

Mr Trump in September delayed until Jan 20 enforcement of the law banning the app used by 170 million Americans unless its Chinese owners sell it.

Mr Trump’s order said the algorithm will be retrained and monitored by the US company’s security partners, and operation of the algorithm will be under the control of the new joint venture.

The agreement on TikTok’s US operations includes the appointment by ByteDance of one of seven board members for the new entity, with Americans holding the other six seats.

ByteDance would hold less than 20 per cent in TikTok US to comply with requirements set out in the 2024 law that ordered it shut down by January 2025 if ByteDance did not sell its US assets. REUTERS