TikTok Is Still Attempting to Convince U.S. Regulators of Its Independence ⇥ wsj.com

Georgia Wells and Stu Woo, Wall Street Journal:

The talks with U.S. officials and lawmakers have become more urgent for TikTok in recent months as federal and state politicians made moves to ban the app on government-issued devices. Congress is also considering a bill that would ban TikTok in the U.S. Lawmakers cite concerns that Beijing could access U.S. users’ data on TikTok, or shape what Americans see on the platform — accusations that the company has denied.

TikTok is hoping that details of its planned reorganization — and promised measures to ensure oversight of its content-recommendation algorithms — will convince potential allies in Washington of its ability to operate independently of its parent company, China-based ByteDance Ltd., according to the people familiar with the discussions.

Even if TikTok can prove it is a truly independent company without a single lingering connection to ByteDance, will regulators and China hawks be convinced? TikTok has not done itself any favours by admitting it lied about monitoring journalists in an attempt to discern their sources.