Chair of a House committee on China demands urgent White House briefing on TikTok deal

Washington – The chairman of a chamber committee that has pressure for the law that requires Tiktok to be transferred from its Chinese owners asked for an urgent briefing at the White House, one day after Trump signed an executive decree supporting an proposed agreement that would put the popular social video platform under American property.

In a statement published on Friday, representative John Moolenaar, president of the restricted committee of the Chinese Communist Party, described the agreement proposed as “an important stage” in the transition from the property of the Tiktok platform to American hands, but he stressed that “the divestment was not the only requirement of the law.”

“The law has also established firm railings which prohibit cooperation between Bytedance and any potential successor of Tiktok on the very important recommendation algorithm, as well as to prevent operational links between the new entity and Bytedance,” said Moolenaar.

The Michigan Republican Declaration marks the first effort of the congress aimed at orienting negotiations on Tiktok, coming almost two weeks after Chinese and American officials met in Spain to discuss a disinvestment agreement for Tiktok. Trump signed a decree on Thursday, providing support for the agreement and said that Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to move forward with negotiations.

The White House did not immediately respond to an investigation by the Associated Press concerning the urgent briefing.

Much is still unknown on the actual agreement in progress, but the new American company would authorize the famous algorithm belonging to Bydance which currently maintains the users of committed Tiktok. The giant of American technology Oracle, a confirmed partner of the American investment consortium which would have Tiktok, would audit a copy of the algorithm and would monitor it for security purposes.

Vice-president JD Vance assured the public on Thursday that the agreement would not only maintain Tiktok operating but also protected the confidentiality of the data of the Americans, as required by the law. Friday, Moolenaar said he would like to know more.

Although algorithms are precious assets, the real value of Tiktok is its users, which is why the consortium will not only start from scratch to create a new application, said computer scientist Bart Knijnenburg, an associate professor at Clemson University who studied how the recommendation systems lead people of online content.

Knijnenburg said that all the algorithms are biased in one way or another and that if the administration seriously concerned the recycling of the Tiktok algorithm to avoid Chinese influence, it should push for a “radical opening” in Tiktok mechanics so that users have a window on the way in which the bias could influence their flows.

More than politics, Knijnenburg said that the biggest problem with Tiktok algorithm is that it is oriented towards addictive commitment and overuse.

“Move it in the United States will not magically solve these types of problems,” he said. “Any company can exert an undue influence on these applications and from a commercial perspective, the best way to pack users is to make them dependent to watch these videos, which is not a good idea.”

Craig Singleton, member of Senior China at the Washington Think Tank Tank Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, doubts that the agreement, as it has been revealed so far, is in accordance with the law.

“The law is clear: disinvestment means a starting indemnity, not supervision,” said Singleton. “A seat of the board of directors for Bytedance or any continuous role in maintaining the algorithm would flout the mandate of the congress.”

Although the details are not yet finalized, the control of the American investment group in the new company would be around 80%. Although Bytedance should have a participation in the new company, it would be less than 20% – part of the property reserved for foreign investors. The board of directors performing the new platform would be controlled by American investors. Bytedance will be represented by a person on the board of directors, but this person will be excluded from any question related to security.

Singleton maintains that an adaptation foot of Bytedance is not simply symbolic. “The reported role of Bytedance as the largest unique shareholder in a restructured company of Tiktok US, combined with a seat of the board of directors, ensures a continuous Chinese influence on the application,” he said. “So clearly, Bytedance on the board of directors means that Beijing in the building.”

Vance said he expects the new Tiktok based in the United States to be estimated at around $ 14 billion, describing it as a “good deal” for investors who must finally decide “what they want to invest and what they think is the right value”.

This is a “surprisingly weak” assessment, said Daniel Keum, management professor at the Columbia University business school.

Keum said that it is possible that “policy has exceeded the profitability analysis” or that the structure of licenses, which has not yet been disclosed, could have been designed with high costs or profits that have depressed the value of the Tiktok application in the United States

Keum said Tiktok had an early advantage to attract young people in its innovative video sharing format, but its competitiveness has “fundamentally eroded” as creators of social media and influencers are increasingly publishing their videos on many different applications.

While the popularity of Tiktok has skyrocketed among young Americans in recent years, American legislators were concerned that Beijing-considered by many on Capitol’s hill as the largest geopolitical rival in the United States-could use the platform to influence public discourse in the United States.

“Bytedance has repeatedly shown that he is a bad actor, and the ultimate goal of the Chinese Communist Party is to see divided and weakened America,” said Moolenaar in his declaration. “This is why, on an overwhelming bipartite basis, the congress required the derivation to give in control of Tiktok.”

President Joe Biden signed the legislation adopted by the congress last year which would prohibit Tiktok unless bytedance sells its American assets to an American company at the start of this year. The United States Supreme Court in January unanimously supported the Tiktok law.

Trump, after his return to the White House, has repeatedly signed orders that allowed Tiktok to continue working in the United States while his administration tries to conclude an agreement for the sale of the company.

Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry provided any new information but repeated the position of China on Tiktok.

“The Chinese government respects the will of companies and welcomes them to make good commercial negotiations according to market rules, reaching solutions in accordance with Chinese laws and regulations and a balanced interest in interest,” said Guo Jiakun, ministry spokesperson. “We hope that the United States will provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory commercial environment for Chinese companies that invest in the United States.”

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The writer AP Matt O’Brien contributed to this report