The chair of the House Select Committee on China has expressed “serious concerns” about a proposed licensing agreement for TikTok’s algorithm as part of the planned sale of the app’s U.S. assets by ByteDance, its China-based parent company.
Representative John Moolenaar, a Republican, said Thursday that allowing China to retain leverage over TikTok’s algorithm poses risks, noting that he is awaiting a briefing on the details of the deal. “I think anytime you have [China] with leverage over the algorithm, I think that’s a problem,” Moolenaar said during an event at the Hudson Institute.
The White House has said the deal would see new U.S. owners license the algorithm from ByteDance. Technology experts have raised questions about whether the algorithm can be meaningfully “reprogrammed,” given its complexity.
The planned sale follows a September 25 executive order by former President Donald Trump approving the transaction as meeting national security requirements outlined in a 2024 law. The law mandates that ByteDance divest its U.S. assets or face a ban on TikTok by January 2025.
Under the agreement, ByteDance would retain less than a 20% stake in TikTok U.S. and appoint one of seven board members in the new entity. The algorithm will be retrained and monitored by U.S. security partners, with operational control resting with the new joint venture.
TikTok did not immediately comment on the matter.
