WASHINGTON — The Biden administration recently told TikTok that it wanted the app’s Chinese owners to sell the app or face a ban in the United States. But that plan hit a roadblock on Thursday, when Beijing said it would oppose a sale.
The announcement created confusion in the debate over the app’s future, leaving the White House with few, if any, clear options.
President Biden’s limited menu now includes attempts to ban the app — the other side of the administration’s threat. But that would be very difficult without congressional help. Or, experts said, he could try to push through a sale anyway, through a government agency that vets foreign companies, effectively challenging Beijing to live up to its opposition.
“He has a choice to make: Does he want to confront China over TikTok?” said James A. Lewis, a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
A spokeswoman for China’s Commerce Ministry said at a press conference on Thursday that the country would “resolutely oppose” the sale of the app. Forcing such a transaction would “seriously undermine the confidence of investors from various countries, including China, to invest in the United States,” she added.
TikTok under the microscope
The hugely popular video app is under pressure due to concerns about its handling of user data.
Her rebuke of the Biden administration came just hours before the TikTok CEO first testified before Congress. The delegate, Shou Chew, faced about five hours of harsh interrogation from legislators on both sides about China’s ties to the company, data privacy, and the app’s effects on children. Many lawmakers cited the Chinese statement as evidence that the app could be subject to Beijing rule.
The government has long feared that Beijing could force TikTok to hand over US users’ sensitive data, or use its powerful content-recommending algorithm to spread propaganda. It has negotiated a deal that will allow the app to continue working in the United States if it stores its US user data on domestic servers.
But senior government officials have rejected that proposal, recently making it clear that they’d rather see the app’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, sell it.
Now the administration will have to consider whether to ban the app and cut off access to its 150 million US users. But that’s legally fraught: Federal courts ruled that President Donald J. Trump didn’t have the authority to ban TikTok from Apple’s and Google’s app stores.
This month, the White House passed a bipartisan Senate bill that would give the Commerce Department clear authority to ban any app that compromises the security of Americans. If it succeeds, the administration will likely have a stronger legal basis for banning TikTok.
The administration could also review the deal it negotiated for TikTok to store its US users’ data on Oracle servers in America. Oracle would also monitor how TikTok’s algorithm recommends content, as a potential safeguard against using the app to spread Chinese government disinformation and propaganda.
But that proposal was met with skepticism from some of the administration’s top players, including at the Justice Department and the White House, prompting the administration to push for a sale.
A White House spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dealing with TikTok has only gotten more complicated since Mr. Trump urged ByteDance to sell it in 2020. list of protected technologies, which analysts say would require ByteDance to get government approval to sell the app to a US buyer. TikTok’s most valuable technology is its recommendation algorithm, the source of its success in attracting and retaining users around the world.
In addition, the court rulings against banning TikTok from app stores removed the crucial leverage the White House had used to get ByteDance to consider selling.
Any decision to remove the app, either by banning it in some way in the United States or by blocking further downloads, could also be more politically charged for Mr Biden than it was for Mr Trump. TikTok has millions more users in the United States than in 2020.
But the roughly five-hour hearing with Mr Chew on Thursday showed that the political demand for action is rising in Washington. About four dozen lawmakers took aim at Mr. Chew, many accusing his company of having close ties to the Chinese government.
He tried to distance himself from China’s TikTok, but lawmakers were skeptical.
“When we spoke a few weeks ago, you expressed an interest in taking steps to gain our trust,” said Massachusetts Representative Lori Trahan, a Democrat. “And for me it hasn’t happened yet.”
Repeatedly, Mr. Chew lawmakers that the company’s plan to keep user information in the United States on servers operated by Oracle, which it calls Project Texas, would allay their concerns. But they didn’t seem to buy it.
“With all due respect, the line ‘No company can be perfect’ has been overused these days,” said Minnesota Democrat Representative Angie Craig. “Obviously in the more than three hours you’ve been standing before us today, what you’re saying about Project Texas just doesn’t pass the smell test.”
David McCabe reported from Washington and Chang Che from Seoul.