The US government wants far-reaching control of TikTok, according to a leaked document: ‘a bit hypocritical’

The document is a draft agreement between the US government and ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok. It provides a glimpse into the years-long negotiations and shows the government demanding overall control of the US branch of the app. If the agreements in the document go into effect, it will give TikTok the United States, among other things, the right to veto the appointment of data security executives, the right to block changes to terms of service and the ability to shut down temporarily. Below the application, writes a business journal Forbeswho holds the leaked text in his hands.

“These requirements go further,” says Friedrich Zuderven-Borgesius, professor of information technology, communications and law at Radboud University Nijmegen. “These rules can lead to some kind of censorship.” Volkskrant He did not see the documents himself, but the wording Forbes This indicates that the US government is out of proactive control over the operation of the application. The EU can only fight terms of service if they conflict with existing law. The US wants more: it can prevent changes to terms of service before they take effect.

Chinese intelligence

Americans have been criticizing TikTok for years because they fear ByteDance will collect user data and pass it on to Chinese intelligence under pressure from Beijing. This fear is unfounded: in 2022, ByteDance was found to have collected the locations and IP addresses of journalists via TikTok. Soon after, the United States, Canada and the European Union banned their officials from using the app, and TikTok was completely banned in the US state of Montana. And according to the leaked draft agreement, as of the summer of 2022, ByteDance appears ready to make firm compromises so as not to be completely banned in the US.

According to Zwedderven Borgesius, the intended measures are “a bit hypocritical”. The US government is now dealing with a controversial foreign digital platform for the first time, while the rest of the world is dealing with it I’ve had similar problems for years with US services like Google and Facebook. “These platforms are only lightly regulated, because strict rules would hurt free speech. But now that it’s a non-US company, suddenly that approach is no longer viable.

In addition to the three measures above, the US is making two other demands on TikTok: they want to be able to display aggregate user data and US TikTok policies without advertising, and force TikTok to pay a third party for an independent company. Investigate the security of the platform. “This is remarkable: these measures have been standard in the EU since the General Data Protection Regulation (European privacy legislation, Mr. Dr.) and the new Digital Services Act.

Consumer Protection Act

However, Walters says that US law has no equivalent to the General Data Protection Regulation or the Digital Services Act, which generally regulate privacy and content moderation for online platforms. The closest comes through regulation by the Federal Trade Commission, which can sue companies if they promise to provide certain services or goods but fail. “This approaches privacy from a consumer law perspective,” says Zuiderven Borgesius. “But companies can get around this problem fairly easily by just making fewer promises.”

It is not yet clear if TikTok has actually accepted or will accept the measures in the draft proposal.