TikTok US Joint Venture: What the New Deal Means
The administration late on Jan. 22 that a TikTok agreement had been reached. But what does it mean and will it allay fears of the social media giant’s critics?
The announcement says the Communist Chinese company has formed an American majority-owned joint venture that would oversee data security and the content ecosystem in a bid to maintain its operations in the United States.
TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC will operate as an independent entity overseen by a seven-member board of directors that includes TikTok CEO Shou Chew, Silver Lake co-CEO Egon Durban, Oracle executive vice president Kenneth Glueck, among others, according to a statement.
“The majority American owned Joint Venture will operate under defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurances for U.S. users,” TikTok said in the statement.
The joint venture will be led by CEO Adam Presser and Chief Security Officer Will Farrell and is backed by three managing investors—tech company Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and United Arab Emirates investment company MGX—each with a 15 percent stake.
ByteDance, the Beijing-based parent company of TikTok, retains a 19.9 percent stake, according to the statement. The new company is also backed by a consortium of investors.
By Aldgra Fredly | The Epoch Times News Service
