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TikTok
TechTech War

TikTok, ByteDance reject reports they are caving in to US divestment pressure, putting up a fight against Biden order

  • TikTok calls a report that it is cloning its recommendation algorithm for US users to prepare for a potential divestment as ‘misleading’
  • ByteDance and TikTok’s swift denial has won them praise back in China, where the Chinese company’s Douyin app rakes in major revenues

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People opposed to a TikTok ban gathered in Washington in March. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS
Ben Jiangin Beijing

TikTok on Friday denied a news report suggesting that the ByteDance-owned platform is laying the technological groundwork for a potential divestment, the latest in a flurry of rebuttals issued by the short video app operator and its Chinese parent as they project a hardline stance against the Biden administration.

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The report by Reuters, citing unidentified sources, said TikTok, at the behest of its Chinese owner, has been working on a clone of its recommendation algorithm for American users, a move that could lay the groundwork for a divestment of the app’s US operations.

TikTok called the report “misleading and factually inaccurate” in a brief statement published to its official account on X, reiterating that the “qualified divestiture” requested by the US government “is simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally”, a line that also appeared in the firm’s court filing challenging the Biden administration’s order.

In response, Reuters said it stands by its reporting.

TikTok and Beijing-based ByteDance have been quick in denying recent media reports hinting that the companies might be caving in to pressure from the US government to consider some sort of divestment.

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