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REPORT: Biden Admin Delays TikTok National Security Deal

(Photo by Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP) (Photo by YUICHI YAMAZAKI/AFP via Getty Images)

James Lynch Investigative Reporter
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A national security agreement being negotiated by the Biden administration and video sharing platform TikTok has been delayed, The Wall Street journal reported Dec. 6.

The national security review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) has dragged on due to concerns raised by U.S. officials about how TikTok might share information related to its recommendation algorithm and the trustworthiness of the company, the WSJ reported.

U.S. officials have not sent TikTok additional demands to address national security concerns, leaving the deal in jeopardy, the WSJ added. A draft agreement had been negotiated between the Biden administration and TikTok to resolve national security concerns without altering the company’s ownership structure, according to The New York Times.

“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,” a TikTok spokesperson told the Daily Caller.

The company spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for follow up.

CFIUS is a committee within the Treasury Department tasked with reviewing certain foreign investments in the U.S. and other transactions to determine national security effects, its website states. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: House GOP Working On Bill To Ban TikTok Across Federal Government)

Republican congressional lawmakers accused TikTok of misleading congress about sharing user data with China in a letter to the company, Reuters reported Nov. 22. The platform’s parent company ByteDance is headquartered in China and allegedly used a different news app to push pro-China messages, according to Buzzfeed.

Likewise, FBI Director Christopher Wray told the House Homeland Security Committee on Nov. 15 that he is “extremely concerned” about TikTok operating in the U.S. He did not specify to the committee what the FBI is doing to address the perceived national security threat posed by TikTok.