Four months after TikTok’s US assets were placed into a new joint venture, Sen. Ed Markey is demanding answers about whether the arrangement truly meets a 2024 law aimed at protecting Americans from national security risks tied to ByteDance. In letters to TikT
Four months after TikTok’s US future was rearranged into a new joint venture, Sen. Ed Markey is asking Americans a simple question they say they still can’t get a clear answer to: what exactly did the deal change—and does it actually protect national security.
On Friday. the Massachusetts Democrat sent letters to TikTok US and Oracle. arguing the spin-off arrangement may have violated “the spirit. if not the letter” of a 2024 law designed to protect Americans who use the app. Markey wants information about the group’s relationship to TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance.
The letters land as lawmakers continue to grapple with a yearslong effort to keep TikTok available in the United States while addressing fears that China could access US users’ data or shape what Americans see on the platform.
Markey’s push could reignite scrutiny of the deal that was finalized one day before a ban was set to go into effect in January. During President Donald Trump’s first term, he vowed to ban the app. In 2024. then-President Joe Biden signed a law requiring the US version of TikTok be spun off from ByteDance or face a ban.
But after Trump returned to office for a second term, enforcement was repeatedly delayed as he sought a transfer of control for TikTok’s US operations to American ownership.
That’s where the spin-off deal came in. A day before the January deadline. a deal was finalized to transfer control of TikTok’s US user data and most of its US operations to a joint venture half owned by a consortium of investors made up of Oracle. private equity firm Silver Lake. and Emirati-backed investment firm MGX. ByteDance investors retained just over 30% of the joint venture, and ByteDance retained 19.9%, according to the group.
The joint venture is led by CEO Adam Presser, who previously oversaw efforts to secure US TikTok users’ data, and is overseen by a board of investor representatives as well as TikTok CEO Shou Chew.
For Markey, the concern isn’t only the data question. It’s also the algorithm—and who controls it.
Critics argued the arrangement may not fully address the national security concerns that led to TikTok’s ban-or-sale law. That law prohibited “any cooperation with respect to the operation of a content recommendation algorithm” between ByteDance and the new potential American ownership group.
The joint venture said it planned to retrain TikTok’s algorithm on US user data and moderate content for US users. while Oracle would oversee storage of Americans’ data. Yet it also said the ByteDance-controlled global TikTok entity would continue to manage e-commerce. advertising. and marketing on the new US platform.
The joint venture further said it would continue to license the TikTok algorithm from ByteDance before retraining and reviewing it—something Chinese officials had previously suggested could support approval from Beijing.
In his Friday letter to TikTok US. Markey said Trump “managed to keep TikTok online only by ignoring the law’s central goal and relying on vague. unproven safeguards to address the legitimate risks to national security.” He added that “Congress and the American people need to understand if and how this deal protects against Chinese influence over TikTok’s content.”.
The joint venture said it would “operate under defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurances for U.S. users.” Still, Markey pressed on what those assurances actually look like in practice.
In his letter to Oracle. Markey questioned whether the plans are effective. pointing out the group has not released enough information about how it retrains the algorithm. He also questioned “whether source code review can meaningfully identify algorithmic manipulation. ” especially if malicious code were hidden in an urgent security patch.
The letters request information by June 18. including a copy of Oracle’s contract with TikTok US and a copy of TikTok US’s contract with ByteDance to license the app’s algorithm. Markey also asked for details on how the group reviews code from ByteDance. how it retrains the algorithm for US users. and any other models or tools the group licenses from the Chinese company.
The stakes for Markey’s request are clear: the same deal that was designed to keep TikTok operating in the US is now being tested for whether it truly fits the boundaries Congress set in 2024.
TikTok and Oracle did not respond to questions from MISRYOUM by publication.
Ed Markey TikTok ByteDance Oracle national security algorithm spin-off deal 2024 law US data