TikTok launches project to convince West it's not spying for China
TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, launches charm offensive in Europe
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Chinese social media app TikTok is continuing its campaign to convince Western countries that it is not a threat to users' privacy or cybersecurity.
The campaign, sometimes referred to as "Project Clover," aims to convince European regulators that sufficient oversight exists domestically to ensure user data is not being funneled to the Chinese government.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A teenager taps on the TikTok app on a smartphone. (Marijan Murat/picture alliance via Getty Images)
TikTok is currently in the process of establishing two European data centers — one in Ireland — purportedly to segregate the continent's collected information from Chinese systems. The company also promises to hire a third party to oversee its European sector.
"Project Clover" echoes the U.S.-focused "Project Texas," which promises to offer some oversight of domestic data collection to the federal government.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Project Texas proposal alone has a price tag over $1 billion, Observer reported.
The app’s parent company, ByteDance LTD, is required under Chinese law to share its data with the Chinese Communist Party whenever requested.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}China's President Xi Jinping arrives for the second plenary session of the National People's Congress with other Chinese leaders at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 7, 2023. (GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images)
Because of this obligation, TikTok has been banned for use on state-owned electronic devices in several states across the country, as well as at the federal level, over cybersecurity concerns.
On Wednesday, Congress voted to give President Biden the power to ban TikTok, while TikTok also said every account held by a user under the age of 18 will have a default 60-minute daily screen time.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre listens as National Economic Council director Brian Deese speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters the same day that the federal government is working on a solution for TikTok, though she would not say whether the social media service would be banned.