TikTok and the United States government have reportedly postponed negotiations due to ongoing concerns about possible national security difficulties posed by the app, given its ownership by Chinese business ByteDance.
Unsettled Matter
As first reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing unidentified sources, the government is concerned about how TikTok would disclose information on its video recommendation system.
It is also worried about how much trust it will need to place in TikTok to fulfill the conditions of the arrangement.
The government has not yet returned to TikTok with additional demands on resolving the issues. And TikTok confirmed waiting to hear from the authorities with any new information on any outstanding matters.
A representative for TikTok said in a statement, "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."
TikTok and US government had signed extensive agreements about transferring user data from TikTok's data centers in Virginia and Singapore to Oracle's servers in the US.
Reports indicate that Oracle would also be responsible for monitoring standards regarding which TikTok personnel might access data belonging to American users.
Authorities' Fear
In the US, the authorities and politicians have voiced fears about the safety of using TikTok.
When the Republicans take over the House of Representatives next year, they are anticipated to utilize their newfound power to investigate the app's alleged links to China.
The director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, expressed grave worry about TikTok's activities in the US in a letter to Congress last month. His words conveyed that the FBI's comments "would be taken into account in any agreements made to address the issue."
Ban Scenario
According to CNBC, analysts predicted on Wednesday, Dec. 7, that if the US banned TikTok, competitors like Meta, Google's YouTube, and Snap would benefit.
Analysts at Bank of America said a ban on TikTok is possible but not most probable.
They added that if such a ban were to pass, it might increase the likelihood of a negotiated sale to a US tech or media business, accelerating advertising interest.
Experts concluded that under that prohibition scenario, they would consider Snap as the greatest sentiment benefit, followed by Meta.
Meanwhile, Cowen analysts said on Wednesday that if TikTok were restricted, YouTube's Shorts and Meta's Reels, two competing platforms for short videos, would be the largest benefactor.
Back in November, a poll was conducted in which Cowen forecasted that if TikTok were blocked, 26% of TikTok viewers would shift their attention to Instagram Reels, 21% to YouTube Shorts, and 3% to Snap's Spotlight.
Nevertheless, Cowen analysts concurred that a complete ban is unlikely.
According to Cowen policy analyst Paul Gallant, the issue today is if the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is stopping to figure out what more is required for a credible settlement so that it can be effectively presented to Capitol Hill.
CFIUS is a subcommittee of the US Department of the Treasury and is in charge of the discussions with TikTok.
