Michigan representative on TikTok deal and possible TikTok ownership
WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA) - Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the TikTok deal.
Brennan brought up her previous interview with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said China has agreed to the deal, and said the deal will be finalized this Thursday.
This lead her to ask Rep. Moolenaar if his national security concerns about the app, as well as about the deal, have been addressed, and the congressman said:
"I think it's important that we note that it...the law requires a divestment. And getting the Chinese Communist Party control away from the app, as well as the algorithm, and it allows ownership only up to 20% for the Chinese entity ByteDance. And, to me, it's very important that that's carried out. We don't know all the specifics of this, but we know that American companies are very interested in participating. There's the proposal for a lease agreement. But how you get that algorithm completely out of the Chinese control is going to be up to the experts. You know, there's six million pieces of code in this algorithm, and we need to make sure that it's protected for the American people."
According to Brennan, the algorithm TikTok uses is a data tracking system pulling from users' habits, and it's been accused of manipulating consumers in terms of what they were able to see, prompting her to ask if the algorithm will be maintained and if upgrades will only be conducted by American engineers, to which Moolenaar said:
"That would be my recommendation because ultimately we don't want a Chinese propaganda effort...We also want to make sure that data from Americans is – is kept secure. And as long as the Chinese are involved, I think there's reasons for distrust and I'm still concerned about it. Quite frankly, you know, the Chinese report to the Chinese Communist Party. And they will leverage every advantage they get. But the president has set a goal of making this available to the American people following the law that was passed in a bipartisan way, and I trust that they are doing that."
During the interview, Brennan and Moolenaar talked about the ownership of TikTok once the deal is finalized.
According to Brennan, President Donald Trump mentioned several investors, including Michael Dell, Lachlan Murdoch, whose family owns Fox News, and Larry Ellison, whose son, David Ellison, owns Paramount, the parent company of CBS News.
This led her to ask if the congressman has concerns if the people who are President Donald Trump's boosters will have ownership in this way, and he said:
"Not everybody is simply a supporter of the president. But I believe that in this case, Congress has a role for oversight. And we will be meeting with the parties of transaction. We also will have hearings on this because, at the end of the day, we want this controlled by American companies, regardless of what their political affiliation. We don't want it controlled by the Chinese Communist Party."
To watch more of Brennan's interview with Moolenaar, click here.
