TIKTOK announced that it has formed a U.S. joint venture, named TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, to allow the app to continue operating in the United States. The venture will see ByteDance selling the majority of its stake to a group of predominantly American investors, with TikTok itself owning 19.9%.
It is designed to operate under safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurances for U.S. users, according to the company. U.S. users’ data will be stored in Oracle’s secure U.S. cloud environment, and TikTok will retrain and update its content recommendation algorithm for users in the United States within that infrastructure.
The venture will run a comprehensive data privacy and cybersecurity programme audited and certified by third-party cybersecurity experts, adhering to standards including NIST CSF and 800-53, ISO 27001, and CISA Security Requirements for Restricted Transactions. The safeguards will extend to CapCut, Lemon8, and TikTok’s other apps and websites in the United States, which TikTok says is used by over 200 million Americans and 7.5 million businesses.