'Every Parent's Worst Nightmare': China's TikTok Deal - Great for China, Not for America
by Gordon G. Chang • December 23, 2025 at 5:00 am
TikTok has posed two national security threats.
First, TikTok and its owner ByteDance have repeatedly made promises about the security of personal data of Americans, but they have not honored pledges and have broken U.S. statutes. The company settled charges that it violated U.S. child privacy laws.
Second, the Chinese regime uses TikTok's curation or recommendation algorithm, which determines the distribution of videos, to propagate its narratives as well as spread hate, sow disinformation, glorify self-harm, and promote illicit drug use. TikTok videos turn Americans against Americans and America itself.
The arrangement.... does not adequately eliminate the algorithm problem. Chew stated in his memorandum that the joint venture will be responsible for "retraining the content recommendation algorithm on U.S. user data to ensure the content feed is free from outside manipulation."
NPR reporting suggests that China will continue to own and control the algorithm — often referred to as TikTok's "secret sauce" — and that the new joint venture will license it. The New York Times reported in September that China would still own the algorithm. Any Chinese involvement in the curation process, especially considering Beijing's past use of the algorithm, is unacceptable.
"Everything is seen in China," a member of TikTok's Trust and Safety Department said in September 2021. A "Beijing-based engineer" known as "Master Admin" had "access to everything."
"The platform has repeatedly lied about its data-sharing practices to Congress, and there is no reason to begin trusting them now," Chuck Flint, a former U.S. Senate chief of staff, said to Gatestone at the time, referring to TikTok.
Moreover, China used TikTok to foment violence on American streets, which is not only a crime but also an act of war.
Trump clearly violated the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, known as the "TikTok law," by granting on January 20 an extension to allow TikTok to operate in the United States. The extension was not authorized by the law — and neither were the three other extensions Trump granted.
"We have signed agreements with investors regarding a new TikTok U.S. joint venture, enabling over 170 million Americans to continue discovering a world of endless possibilities as part of a vital global community," TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew reported in a memo to employees on December 18.
In response to intense American pressure, ByteDance, the privately owned Chinese company that owns TikTok, agreed to spin off TikTok's U.S. operations.
According to Chew, the joint venture, named TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, would be "majority owned by American investors, governed by a new seven-member majority-American board of directors, and subject to terms that protect Americans' data and U.S. national security."
The deal, however, is not good for America. The Trump administration should either close TikTok or seize the extremely popular video-sharing app without compensation.
TikTok has posed two national security threats.
