TikTok has confirmed that it offered the US government a ‘kill switch’ in an attempt to address lawmakers’ data protection and national security concerns. This ‘kill switch’ would have given the US government the power to shut down the platform at its sole discretion if TikTok did not adhere to certain rules.
The offer was made in 2022 as part of a proposed ‘National Security Agreement’. Under this agreement, TikTok would have had to follow rules such as properly funding its data protection units and ensuring that ByteDance, its Chinese parent company, did not have access to US users’ data. The ‘kill switch’ could have been triggered by the US government if TikTok broke this agreement.
However, TikTok alleges that the US government ceased any substantive negotiations after the proposal of the new rules. It also claims that the government ignored requests to meet for further negotiations and did not respond to TikTok’s invitation to visit and inspect its Dedicated Transparency Center in Maryland.
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will hold oral arguments on lawsuits filed by TikTok and ByteDance, along with TikTok users, in September. Legislation signed in April by President Joe Biden gives ByteDance until January next year to divest TikTok’s US assets or face a ban. TikTok denies that it shares foreign users’ data with China and called the legislation an ‘unconstitutional ban’ and affront to the US right to free speech.
Read more: www.bbc.com