Under increasing pressure in the US, ByteDance and TikTok shift their strategy for dealing with officials by going on the offense and speaking out publicly
Keeping its head down has not paid off for the company, which now faces regulatory pressure on many fronts. So it is starting to speak out.
New York Times
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Discussion
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@sfmnemonic
Mike Godwin
on x
TikTok tried being quiet and inoffensive. But the low-key approach hasn't worked. https://www.nytimes.com/...
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@richlightshed
@richlightshed
on x
[TikTok's] proposal, though, has yielded little response from the panel [US govt], Mr. Andersen said. TikTok said it had asked about the status of the panel's review in numerous emails and received little response. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
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@jamiemetzl
Jamie Metzl
on x
For TikTok to operate in the United States, it cannot be owned by ByteDance. Period. https://www.nytimes.com/...
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@adamkovac
Adam Kovacevich
on x
@daphnehk ... I don't see how CFIUS can accept “Oracle audits” as a solution. Oracle will be a TikTok vendor and has little/no incentive to dime them out to the US govt. And Oracle isn't a branch of the govt.
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@daphnehk
Daphne Keller
on x
What are the implications of Oracle's special relationship with TikTok? They're already tight, but now TikTok is proposing that Oracle audit its ranking algorithm and take a bigger role in storing U.S. users' data. Anyone seen/have good thinking on this? https://www.nytimes.com/.…
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@ceciliakang
Cecilia Kang
on x
More details of TikTok's proposal to the Biden Administration, called Project Texas, by @MattPerault @SammSacks who were briefed by CEO Chew and others https://www.lawfareblog.com/ ...
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@sapna
Sapna Maheshwari
on x
TikTok submitted its 90-page proposal for operating in the U.S. to the Biden administration in August...& has been virtually ghosted since then. Read our story on how TikTok is changing tack as criticism of the company reaches a fever pitch: https://www.nytimes.com/... https://tw…
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@ceciliakang
Cecilia Kang
on x
Pivoting under pressure, TikTok fights back In interviews w/ us and in a new charm offensive in Washington, TikTok revealing details of their proposal to the Biden administration after months of stalled talks and dozens of bans on app w/ @sapna @dmccabe https://www.nytimes.com/..…
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@mattperault
Matt Perault
on x
(5) it will cost $1.5B to stand up, and $700M-$1B annually to run. Those costs will presumably increase if TikTok continues to grow. (6) there will be product costs as well. It is likely to increase latency, meaning that this data storage model will slow app performance.
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@ashleyrgold
Ashley Gold
on x
TikTok briefed a bunch of researchers on how their data housing plans with Oracle are gonna work last week. gonna be pricy, going to make data transfer out of the us a bit complicated and slow, app performance may suffer a bit.
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@mattperault
Matt Perault
on x
(3) Oracle Cloud will host TikTok's US platform, and will have oversight responsibility (4) 7 different orgs/individuals will conduct oversight, including CFIUS, Oracle, and several third-party monitors.
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@mattperault
Matt Perault
on x
For us, the intent was to outline the details of TikTok's plans — based on what we heard in the briefing from company executives — so that those debates can be grounded in the reality of what the company is planning, rather than speculation about potential plans and risks.
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@ashleyrgold
Ashley Gold
on x
Project Texas: The Details of TikTok's Plan to Remain Operational in the United States https://www.lawfareblog.com/ ...
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@mattperault
Matt Perault
on x
Some key components: (1) they have set up an independent TikTok U.S. Data Security Inc. USDS) that will house all US user data, their algorithm, and their content mod tech (2) it will be governed by an independent board, reporting to CFIUS
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@mattperault
Matt Perault
on x
How is @tiktok_us planning to address the US government's national security concerns? In @lawfareblog, @SammSacks and I provide an overview of TikTok's plans, based on a briefing we received from senior company execs last week. https://www.lawfareblog.com/ ...