TikTok’s US entity functions independently of ByteDance, the Justice Department explained.
The US Department of Justice has announced that federal employees can now download and install TikTok on electronics provided by the government, explaining that its current version doesn’t pose the risks the previous one did. In 2022, TikTok was outlawed on almost all devices issues by the US federal government due to national security concerns. Chris Wray, the FBI director at the time, warned that China could use the app to collect data on users via its parent company ByteDance.
In 2024, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that would ban TikTok in the country altogether unless ByteDance sells it. A deal for the app’s business in the US was finalized in January this year, leading to the creation of a new entity called TikTok USDS Joint Venture. ByteDance retained an almost 20 percent stake in the new business, but the rest is controlled by a group of non-Chinese investors, including Oracle.
When the deal was announced, TikTok said the new venture will protect American users’ data with Oracle’s secure US cloud environment. It also said that the US entity will train TikTok’s algorithm on data from people in the US, while promising users that they will still get international content.
In the Justice Department’s announcement, it said: “The version of TikTok operated by the TikTok US Data Security Joint Venture does not fall within this prohibition because the Joint Venture functions independently of ByteDance, is majority-owned by American investors, and has revised the content recommendation algorithm and cybersecurity program originally developed by ByteDance to insulate federal government information against the concerning security features that initially motivated the prohibition.”
However, it’s still up to individual agencies to decide whether or not to allow their employees to download TikTok on federal phones. “For instance, agencies may independently decide to ban the downloading of TikTok to government devices for workforce management reasons, such as promoting employee productivity,” the DOJ wrote.
