WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Republican Representative Mike Gallagher met with TikTok on Wednesday to discuss the Chinese-owned short video app’s U.S. data security plans, but he still plans to try to ban TikTok in the United States. States, said a spokesman for the legislator.
Gallagher, the Republican chairman of a US House select committee on China, met with Will Farrell, acting security officer for TikTok US Data Security (USDS).
The lawmaker “appreciated his time, but found his argument unconvincing,” Gallagher’s spokesman Jordan Dunn said.
Gallagher “still plans to file his legislation with Rep. (Raja) Krishnamoorthi in the coming weeks,” Dunn said.
TikTok’s “Protecting US National Security Interests” presentation, seen by Reuters, gives a detailed look at the app’s efforts to demonstrate data security for the more than 100 million users. American TikTok users.
TikTok did not immediately comment on the meeting with Gallagher.
The US government’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a powerful national security body, ordered the Chinese company ByteDance in 2020 to divest TikTok for fears that user data could pass to the Chinese government.
CFIUS and TikTok have been in talks for more than two years with the goal of reaching a national security agreement.
Reuters first reported in December that TikTok had taken several steps aimed at addressing US government concerns, including a deal for Oracle Corp to store data on US users of the app and a data security arm of United States to oversee data protection and content moderation decisions.
TikTok has spent $1.5 billion in hiring and reorganization costs to develop the Data Security unit, Reuters also reported.
TikTok’s staff in the unit will be investigated and the company will be governed by an independent board and its content systems will be overseen by CFIUS-approved third parties, according to the filing.
For three years, TikTok has been trying to reassure Washington that the personal data of US citizens cannot be accessed and their content cannot be manipulated by the Chinese Communist Party or anyone under Beijing’s influence.
On Monday, the company confirmed that TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will appear before the US Committee on Commerce and Energy on March 23.
TikTok said Monday that it hopes “by sharing details of our comprehensive plans with the full committee, Congress can take a more deliberative approach to the issues at hand.”
The House Foreign Affairs Committee plans to hold a vote this month on a bill aimed at blocking the use of TikTok in the United States.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Sandra Maler and Tom Hogue)
Copyright 2023 Thomson Reuters.
