TikTok hits back at reports of a separate 'US version' of the app

The National

3 days ago

TikTok has hit back at a recent report that alleges the social media platform is working on a separate version of its app for US users, as a potential ban in the country looms.
The US version of the app would purportedly have a different algorithm and an independent user data storage system to alleviate lawmaker concerns about data being accessible by Chinese officials.
The platform, which is owned by China-based ByteDance, has repeatedly denied that user data is vulnerable or compromised.
"The recently posted Reuters story, which is based on anonymous uninformed sources, is factually inaccurate," read a statement issued on Thursday by the social media company.
The National contacted to TikTok for further comment and was referred to the earlier statement.
The statement comes weeks after President Donald Trump granted a third 90-day stay on the ban, approved by Congress last year. Congress originally gave ByteDance until mid-January to divest from the platform due to national security concerns over user data.
As a result of the most recent extension, ByteDance now has until September 17 to divest TikTok from its portfolio, or risk going dark in the US.
Mr Trump said about a week ago that his administration had identified buyers for TikTok, although he declined to name anyone and acknowledged he still needed approval from Beijing.
The app briefly was inaccessible in the US on January 18, as the initial deadline set by Congress was about to go into effect, but shortly after being sworn in on January 20, Mr Trump signed an executive order granting ByteDance an extension.
Although user confidence in the viability of platform was briefly shaken, it bounced back.
Yet for advertisers who help fuel TikTok's revenue, it took longer to rebound.
"I think they're still iffy about it," said Matt Navarra, a social media consultant and analyst.
"Confidence isn't back to 100 per cent because ad buyers aren't just measuring potential social media engagement, they're also factoring in geopolitical risk."
Mr Navarra pointed out that businesses wouldn't want their advertising campaigns to be snuffed out by a potential ban, nor would they want to be associated with a banned app.
Regardless of whether TikTok will in fact introduce a new version of the social media app for the US market, questions abound about how the new app would function.
Some have argued that a new app would make the sale of TikTok assets to a US entity easier, while others have said that an independent app would make it easier for ByteDance to maintain control over the platform's main assets.
"I think this move smells more like a pressure valve for public relations and political optics and any genuine structural change," said Mr Navarra, speculating on the potential of a different version of TikTok's app.
"If users think they're on a safe version and regulators buy into it, that might buy TikTok some time."
But he cautioned that a hypothetical new version of the app would also come under intense scrutiny.
"I think tech insiders and privacy advocates will tear it apart within hours of launch," he said.
This week has been particularly turbulent for TikTok in various parts of the world.
In Canada, concerns about TikTok's ownership prompted lawmakers to order that the platform's offices be closed in the country, although the app itself will not be banned.
In Ireland, the country's data protection commission opened an inquiry into user data being stored on servers in China.
"The purpose of the inquiry is to determine whether TikTok has complied with its relevant obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)," a statement read.