TikTok offered US deal in 2022, federal officials said no. Why?

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WASHINGTON (TND) — As a possible U.S. ban inches closer for the popular video app TikTok, a deal that the app sent to the U.S. Government back in 2022 is now resurfacing.

Included in the deal, known as “Project Texas,” TikTok would have given the Biden Administration control over its U.S. operations. But the administration said no.

“Basically it gave the U.S. certain kinds of safeguards as to TikTok’s business practices,” said Aram Sinnreich, the Communications Studies Chair at American University.

The deal would have allowed the U.S. to do a couple of things:

Audit the software TikTok uses for its algorithm
Ensure that there were U.S.-based servers
Gave the U.S. a kill switch

TikTok offered US deal in 2022, federal officials said no. Why?

FILE – A TikTok sign is displayed on their building in Culver City, Calif., March 11, 2024. TikTok said Thursday, May 23, its putting in place new rules to limit the reach of state-affiliated media accounts. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

So if they got really concerned about TikTok’s role in American society they could simply press a button and turn it off,” Sinnreich said.

As for why the administration decided to turn down the proposal, Rajiv Garg, an Associate Professor at Emory University said he thinks security might be one reason.

“If some entity is now responsible for monitoring this data, and now you’re saying the U.S. government was responsible in controlling this data if something wrong happens then whose liable?” said Garg.

But not just security. A professor at Northwestern University, V.S. Subrahmanian, said another reason the U.S. may have turned down the deal is out of an abundance of caution.