TikTok revealed that it proposed granting the US government the authority to shut down its platform in 2022, aiming to address lawmakers’ worries about data protection and national security.
This disclosure comes as TikTok and its parent company ByteDance battle against legislation that mandates the app’s ban in the US unless ByteDance sells it.
The legislation was introduced due to concerns that TikTok could potentially share data from its US users with the Chinese government, allegations vehemently denied by TikTok and ByteDance. Both companies are actively urging the courts to invalidate the legislation.
“This law is a radical departure from this country’s tradition of championing an open Internet, and sets a dangerous precedent allowing the political branches to target a disfavored speech platform and force it to sell or be shut down,” they argued in their legal submission.
They also claimed the US government refused to engage in any serious settlement talks after 2022, and pointed to the “kill switch” offer as evidence of the lengths they had been prepared to go.
TikTok says the mechanism would have allowed the government the “explicit authority to suspend the platform in the United States at the US government’s sole discretion” if it did not follow certain rules.
A draft “National Security Agreement”, proposed by TikTok in August 2022, would have seen the company having to follow rules such as properly funding its data protection units and making sure that ByteDance did not have access to US users’ data.
The government’s “kill switch” could have been activated if it violated the terms of this agreement, it asserted.
According to a letter disclosed by the Washington Post, TikTok’s attorney alleges that after proposing new regulations, the US government “terminated all substantive negotiations.”
Dated April 1, 2024, the letter asserts that the government disregarded requests for further discussions and declined an invitation to inspect TikTok’s Dedicated Transparency Center in Maryland.
Legal proceedings at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia are scheduled for September, involving lawsuits filed by TikTok, ByteDance, and TikTok users.
The lawsuits challenge legislation signed by President Joe Biden in April, which mandates ByteDance to divest TikTok’s US assets by January next year or face a ban.
This legislation was enacted due to concerns that data from TikTok’s 170 million US users could potentially be accessed by the Chinese government.
TikTok has refuted allegations of data sharing with China, calling the legislation an unconstitutional restriction on free speech.
It maintains that US user data remains within the country and is managed by Oracle through Project Texas. However, a Wall Street Journal investigation in January 2024 revealed ongoing data sharing between TikTok in the US and ByteDance in China.
In May, a US government official informed the Washington Post that the proposed solution at the time was deemed insufficient to mitigate serious national security risks.
They added: “While we have consistently engaged with the company about our concerns and potential solutions, it became clear that divestment from its foreign ownership was and remains necessary.”