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Negotiations between TikTok and the U.S. authorities have been delayed as officers proceed to fret concerning the potential nationwide safety points the app might pose given its possession by Chinese firm ByteDance, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
The authorities’s issues embrace how TikTok might share info associated to its video advice algorithm and the way a lot belief the federal government would finally have to put in TikTok to comply with via on the deal’s phrases, in keeping with the Journal. The authorities has but to come back again with TikTok with new requests on the right way to deal with the issues, the Journal reported based mostly on unnamed sources. TikTok confirmed it has not obtained an replace from the federal government about any unresolved issues.
“While we can’t comment on the specifics of those confidential discussions, we are confident that we are on a path to fully satisfy all reasonable U.S. national security concerns and have already made significant strides toward implementing those solutions,” a TikTok spokesperson stated in a press release.
The two sides had reached broad agreements about storing U.S. person information on Oracle servers within the U.S., the Journal reported, shifting it from TikTok information facilities in Virginia and Singapore. Oracle would even be in control of overseeing protocols about which workers inside TikTok might entry U.S. person information, in keeping with the report.
U.S. officers and lawmakers have been vocal about their safety issues with TikTok. Republicans within the House are broadly anticipated to make use of management of the chamber subsequent yr to zero in on fears concerning the app’s ties to China.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray advised lawmakers final month that he’s “extremely concerned” about TikTok’s U.S. operations. He stated the FBI’s suggestions “would be taken into account in any agreements made to address the issue.”
In notes on Wednesday, analysts predicted that Meta, Google’s YouTube and Snap would stand to achieve from a TikTok ban within the U.S.
Bank of America analysts stated a TikTok ban is a “possible but not most likely scenario,” including {that a} “negotiated sale to a US tech or media company could be more likely if a ban was on the horizon, and a sale could accelerate advertiser interest.”
“In a ban scenario, we would view Snap as the biggest sentiment beneficiary, followed by Meta,” the analysts wrote.
Cowen analysts wrote Wednesday that Meta’s Reels, short-form movies much like these on TikTok, “would be the biggest beneficiary” of a TikTok ban, adopted by YouTube’s Shorts.
“If TikTok were banned, 26% of its users would reallocate their time spent to IG Reels, 21% to YouTube
Shorts & 3% to SNAP’s Spotlight,” Cowen estimated based mostly on its November survey.
Still, Cowen analysts agreed a full ban shouldn’t be the almost certainly situation.
“We continue to believe TikTok will survive in the US,” Cowen coverage analyst Paul Gallant wrote. “But we think it’s now a very close call, and we maintain our 40% chance of a ban in 2023.”
“The question now is whether CFIUS is pausing to determine what else is needed for a strong settlement, so it can be successfully sold to Capitol Hill,” he added. “Or whether CFIUS is reassessing a monitoring agreement altogether in favor of mandating that Bytedance divest TikTok,” referring to the Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment within the U.S., which is main negotiations.
The Treasury Department didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Read the total report at The Wall Street Journal.
CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
