TikTok

TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, relinquished control of American TikTok to the U.S. late last week.

The transaction staves off the looming TikTok ban without sacrificing national security. The platform itself, however, remains as dangerous for America’s 170 million users as ever.

TikTok USDS Joint Venture, an American-controlled company, took over the American divisions of TikTok, Lemon8, CapCut and several other ByteDance apps on Thursday, January 22.

American investors own 50% of the new company. ByteDance retains 19.9% ownership and the remaining 30% belongs to ByteDance investors.

American control of the joint venture solves three national security threats caused by Chinese ownership of ByteDance.

First and foremost, American users’ data will be hosted on U.S.-based servers and protected by U.S. cybersecurity companies.

TikTok always claimed to keep the extensive data it collected on Americans secure. But Chinese law requires companies like ByteDance make their data available to the government.

A congressional investigatory committee determined Chinese officials had mined Americans’ TikTok data on multiple occasions, including:

• Names
• Ages
• Emails
• Phone numbers
• Contact lists
• In-app messages and usage patterns
• IP addresses
• Keystroke patterns
• Browsing and search history
• Location data
• Biometric information like face- and voiceprints

Chinese access to ByteDance’s data extended to TikTok’s powerful content recommendation algorithm. TikTok USDS will reset the algorithm and retrain it on American content alone, ensuring China can no longer manipulate what U.S. citizens see on TikTok.

ByteDance will no longer perform content moderation under TikTok USDS, further preventing China from censoring or influencing the success of Americans’ posts.

ByteDance’s divestiture of American TikTok satisfies the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act — the ban-or-sell law which required the company to sell majority ownership of TikTok for the app to remain available in America.

President Donald Trump passed an executive order delaying enforcement of the ban in January 2025, giving TikTok time to negotiate with American buyers. When ByteDance and U.S. investors established a framework for the deal in September, the president gave the parties another 120 days to sign on the dotted line.

The launch of TikTok USDS Joint Venture on January 22 came just one day before the deadline.

American control of TikTok might well protect citizens from global security threats. It does not, however, protect users from TikTok itself.

Thirteen states and the District of Columbia sued TikTok in October 2024 for illegally collecting and monetizing American children’s data.

The suits estimated as much as 35% of TikTok’s American ad revenue under ByteDance came from children and teens. Importantly, ByteDance will retain control of TikTok’s e-commerce, marketing and advertising under the TikTok USDS.

The 2024 lawsuits exposed documents showing TikTok not only knew its app was addictive, but that compulsive use in teens caused “a slew of negative mental health effects like loss of analytical skills, memory formation, contextual thinking, conversational depth, empathy, increased anxiety … [and interference] with essential responsibilities like sufficient sleep, work/school responsibilities and connecting with loved ones.”

An estimated 95% of American smartphone users under 17 years old use TikTok, according to one of the platform’s own reports.  

Still, TikTok workers did not consider it their responsibility to limit minors’ use of the platform — even when creating a tool allowing parents to set TikTok time limits for their kids.

“Our goal is not to reduce the time spent [on TikTok],” a project manager for the tool wrote in an employee group chat.

“[The goal is] to contribute to daily active users and retention [of other users],” another chimed in.

TikTok evaluated the success of the time limit tool based on one metric alone: “Whether it improved public trust in the TikTok platform via media coverage.”

TikTok doesn’t just fail to protect kids — it targets them. When the Apple App Store challenged TikTok’s 12-and-up age rating in 2022, arguing its “frequent or intense mature or suggestive content” warranted a 17-and-up rating, TikTok refused to change it.

The Daily Citizen supports policies which protect American families from foreign threats. But make no mistake — TikTok remains a dangerous place, particularly for young users.

Parents should think long and hard before allowing their kids to take part.

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President Donald Trump signed an executive order yesterday staving off the enforcement of the TikTok ban-or-sell law, giving the social media app 75 more days to find an American buyer.

TikTok was scheduled to shut down in the U.S. on January 19, one day prior to Mr. Trump’s inauguration, after failing to comply with the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (the Act).

The bipartisan act, which then-President Biden signed into law last April, required TikTok to divest from its Chinese parent to continue operating in the U.S.

Americans couldn’t access TikTok online or on app stores for about 14 hours Sunday morning before the soon-to-be-President took to Truth Social, promising to delay the Act’s enforcement and shield companies from financial liability.

The Act can fine companies $5,000 per person that accesses TikTok past January 19.

Mr. Trump’s promise was enough for web hosts like Oracle and Akami to restored online access to TikTok before his inauguration. But TikTok remains absent from app store platforms like Google and Apple, even after President Trump issued his official order, in apparent deference to lingering legal questions.

Legal experts disagree over whether a President can effectively change or negate a law passed by Congress with an executive order.

Importantly, Mr. Trump’s order doesn’t actually extend the law’s deadline. It orders the Attorney General not to enforce the law for another 75 days. While most seem to agree the President can control what laws the Department of Justice enforces, some argue it doesn’t set a good precedent. Zachary Price, a professor at the University of California College of Law in San Francisco, told The New York Times:

Though many have expressed doubts about the executive order, it’s unclear what group would go so far as to challenge it in court. The edict has broad, bi-partisan appeal. Legislators spent the last week working furiously to get out of the deadline they had created, reluctant to kick 170 million Americans off an admittedly addictive app.

Though few have criticized Mr. Trump’s order directly, those concerned with national security continued discouraging app stores from platforming TikTok. Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton wrote on X:

Mr. Trump’s commitment to finding TikTok an American buyer might mollify security hawks like Cotton enough to keep them from formally challenging the order. The trouble, then, is convincing China to let TikTok go.

Evidence suggests the Chinese government has significant sway over TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance. Some, like South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, have even suggested China’s President, Xi Jingping, holds stock in ByteDance. Either way, the company will be unable to sell TikTok without the People’s Republic of China’s say so.

Yesterday, for the first time, the Chinese government seemed to soften their stance on selling TikTok to an American company.

“For such actions as corporate operations and acquisitions, we always believe they should be decided independently by companies based on market principles,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing on Monday.

Your kids might be able to maintain access to TikTok — but should they? Read the articles below to find out why you should think twice about TikTok and other social media platforms.

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Time is ticking for TikTok.

The social media app has just three days to comply with the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, a law forcing it to divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

If ByteDance refuses to sell, and the Supreme Court declines to temporarily block the law, TikTok will shut down in the U.S. on Sunday.

The Act, which President Biden signed into law in April 2024, addresses bipartisan concerns that TikTok threatens U.S. security. Chinese law requires all Chinese-owned companies, including ByteDance, to make their data available to the government. That means the PRC has access to the data TikTok collects on all 170 million American users, including their names, ages, emails, phone numbers, contact lists, in-app messages, IP addresses, keystroke and in-app usage patterns, browsing and search history, location data and biometric identifiers.

China uses this data to expand its massive U.S. intelligence gathering operation. Casey Blackburn, the Assistant Director of U.S. National Intelligence, told the D.C. Circuit Court last month,

These threats, Blackburn continued, include “extensive, years-long efforts to accumulate structured datasets, in particular on U.S. persons, to support its intelligence and counterintelligence operations.”

TikTok spent 2024 in court trying to get the Act declared unconstitutional, but testimony like Blackburn’s proved too convincing to overcome. The D.C. Court affirmed a lower court ruling finding the Act constitutional, writing:

TikTok has asked the Supreme Court to temporarily stop the law’s enforcement so it can appeal to the Supreme Court or the benevolence of the incoming administration. President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated one day after the January 19 shutdown date.  

The Court is expected to weigh in by Sunday.

TikTok poses more than just a national security threat; Thirteen states and the District of Columbia are suing the company for the unethical treatment of children. But ahead of the looming deadline, many former TikTok critics have thrown their weight behind finding TikTok an American buyer — including the President-elect.

Politico reports TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will attend Mr. Trump’s inauguration on January 20. On the other side of the aisle, President Biden is considering using an executive order to extend the Act’s deadline, Forbes reports.

Caitlin Legacki, a former member of the Biden Commerce Department, broke down the situation for Politico:

It’s difficult to predict what will happen this Sunday, but one thing won’t change — TikTok isn’t good for children. Check out the articles below to learn how you protect your kids from social media.

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TikTok asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit this week to postpone the enforcement of a law that could ban the social media platform from America.

The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (the Act) gives TikTok until January 19 to cut ties with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. The law, which President Biden signed in April, addresses years-long, bipartisan concerns that the Chinese government uses TikTok to gather data on American citizens.

TikTok spent months trying to get the law thrown out as a free speech violation. The D.C. Circuit effectively dashed those hopes last week after unanimously finding the Act constitutional.

“The First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States,” Senior Circuit Judge Douglas Ginsburg wrote in the Court’s majority opinion, continuing:

Government laws that infringe on free speech rights must 1) serve a compelling government interest and 2) be narrowly tailored to serve that purpose. Though the Court acknowledged a ban would infringe on the free expression of some 170 million users, it concluded the Act met this two-pronged test.

In his concurring opinion, Judge Sri Srinivasan wrote:

As Srinivasan notes, the Court’s opinion reflects a preponderance of evidence that TikTok funnels important user data to one of America’s greatest foreign adversaries.

Assistant Director of National Intelligence Casey Blackburn calls China “the most active, persistent cyber espionage threat to the U.S. government, private-sector and critical networks.” Part of these threats include China’s “extensive, years-long efforts to accumulate structured datasets, in particular on U.S. persons, to support its intelligence and counterintelligence operations.”

Chinese law requires all Chinese-owned companies — including ByteDance — to make their data available to the government. That means China has access to the names, ages, emails, phone numbers and, often, contact lists U.S. users divulge to TikTok when they sign up.

The PRC can also access TikTok’s users’ in-app messages, in-app usage patterns, IP addresses, keystroke patterns, browsing and search history, location data and biometric identifiers like face- and voiceprints—all metrics TikTok tracks, according to its “privacy policy.”

TikTok claims it retains American data on local servers the Chinese government can’t access. Public reporting and evidence presented by the Department of Justice suggest otherwise.

Despite TikTok’s assurances, audio recordings of ByteDance meetings indicate the company “retained considerable control and influence” over U.S. users’ data.

The Congressional investigative committee that recommended passing the Act found:

• “Public reporting suggested that TikTok had stored sensitive information about U.S. persons (including ‘Social Security numbers and tax identifications’) on servers in China;
• “TikTok’s ‘China-based employees’ had ‘repeatedly accessed non-public data about U.S. TikTok users.’
• “ByteDance employees had ‘accessed TikTok user data and IP addresses to monitor the physical locations of specific U.S. citizens.”

This is not the first time TikTok has been accused of mishandling user data. In October, thirteen states and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits accusing TikTok, in part, of illegally collecting children’s data.

“TikTok actively collects and monetizes data on users under 13 years old, in violation of Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and does so without parental consent,” New York Attorney General Leticia James wrote in a press release detailing the allegations.

Evidence uncovered in these cases suggest a significant portion of TikTok’s American users are minors. An internal study from TikTok found as many as 95% of American smartphone users under 17 years old use the app.  An estimated 35% of TikTok’s American ad revenue comes from children and teens.

TikTok hopes the D.C. Circuit will grant it enough time to appeal to the Supreme Court — or the beneficence of the incoming Trump administration — before January 19.

Though President Trump was the first to openly acknowledge the risk TikTok posed to national security in 2019, some allies predict he will help facilitate a deal between TikTok and a new American owner. The Chinese government says it will oppose such a deal, preventing ByteDance from releasing TikTok and forbidding the sale of its money-making algorithm.

The Department of Justice officially opposed TikTok’s petition for a preliminary injunction on Wednesday. As of December 13, the Court has not yet responded.

Parents might not be able to control whether TikTok will be banned in America, but you can take steps to keep your kids safe online. To learn more about social media and its effects on children, check out the articles below.

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Survey Finds Teens Use Social Media More Than Four Hours Per Day — Here’s What Parents Can Do