TikTok US joint venture faces questions over national security compliance

Four months after TikTok's U.S. assets moved into a new joint venture, a Massachusetts senator sent letters to TikTok US and Oracle requesting information on the arrangement's compliance with a 2024 law. The letters state the deal may have violated the spirit, if not the letter, of the law intended to protect U.S. users.

They seek details on the joint venture's relationship with ByteDance, including contracts and code-review procedures.

Background of the spin-off President Donald Trump had vowed to ban the app during his first term. In 2024, then-President Joe Biden signed legislation requiring the U.S. version to separate from ByteDance or face a ban. Lawmakers cited concerns that China could access U.S. user data or influence content.

Trump later delayed enforcement while pursuing a transfer to American ownership. One day before the January deadline, control of U.S. user data and most operations transferred to a joint venture half-owned by Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX. ByteDance investors retained just over 30 percent, and ByteDance itself kept 19.9 percent.

Algorithm and data safeguards The joint venture said it would retrain the algorithm on U.S. data and that Oracle would oversee storage. ByteDance's global entity would continue handling e-commerce, advertising, and marketing. The venture also said it would license the algorithm from ByteDance before retraining it.

A January statement described safeguards covering data protection, algorithm security, and content moderation. The letters request responses by June 18, including copies of Oracle's contract with TikTok US and TikTok US's licensing agreement with ByteDance.