US attempts to gain ‘unprecedented’ access to TikTok: Report
- TikTok has drawn national security concerns over how it collects data
- Forbes: Draft agreement shows powerful oversight, access
- Digital executive: An agreement would be a ‘balancing act’
Testing widget old system
(NewsNation) — The U.S. government and TikTok have been at odds. The Chinese-owned social media app has drawn national security concerns over how it collects and utilizes data from its more than 150 million American users.
New proposed terms, including how parent company ByteDance would have to give the U.S. government nearly blanket access to the data to potentially avoid a ban, are raising some eyebrows.
According to Forbes, a draft agreement between ByteDance and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) would give government agencies like the Justice Department or the Defense Department the authority to analyze TikTok’s U.S. records and servers, block changes to the app’s U.S. terms of service and privacy policy, order TikTok to subject itself to audits and require ByteDance to temporarily stop TikTok from functioning in the U.S. The outlet calls this “unprecedented oversight power.”
Digital business executive Seth Schachner says it would be a “balancing act” for the app to come to an agreement with the government.
“I’m actually somewhat of an optimist if this structure can work for both sides,” Schachner said during an interview on “NewsNation Now.”
He added: “The real balancing act here is not to shut off an app that every teenager is using, and you wouldn’t want to see that happen.”
The draft agreement has not been finalized at this time.
