The Director General of Tiktok, Zhi Chu, has stated that Tiktok has never transmitted user data from the United States to the Chinese government. During a speech to the Energy and Trade Committee of the House of Representatives in the United States, Chu noted that even if the Chinese government requested such information, the company would not comply with the request. According to Reuters, Chu explained that Tiktok has never received requests for the transfer of data from US users to the Chinese government.
Furthermore, Chu has stated that Tiktok’s parent company, Bytedance, is not connected to the Chinese government nor controlled by them. He explained that 60% of Bytedance shares belong to global investors such as BlackRock, General Atlantic, and Sequoia, while 20% belong to the platform’s founders and another 20% to employees, many of whom are US citizens.
Recently, the US Presidential Administration, under Joe Biden, has called for Tiktok to sell their shares to avoid a ban on the application in the US. In response, Chu has suggested that an alternative solution would be to store user data from the United States on the servers of the American company Oracle. Approximately $1.5 billion has been allocated for this solution, and Oracle has already begun studying Tiktok’s source code. Migration is expected to be completed by the end of the year. This plan allows for Tiktok to avoid being banned in the US.
Chu revealed that Tiktok currently has 150 million users in the US. Although this represents only 10% of their worldwide audience, US users make up 25% of content views.
However, despite claims that Bytedance is based in an offshore zone of the Cayman Islands and not in Beijing, there is a connection between Tiktok and China that cannot be ignored. The application was developed in China, and this connection should not be dismissed.