TikTok offers deeper view
TikTok has told the Australian government it will open up its source code for inspection.
Representative of the wildly-popular video app TikTok have told an Australian government committee that it will allow officials to review its algorithms and source code, in an effort to overcome distrust surrounding its Chinese ownership.
It comes as the US Government works on plans to ban TikTok in the United States on security grounds.
At a session of the Select Committee on Foreign Interference through Social Media, TikTok's Australian executives said the programming that guides the content presented to TikTok users will be made available for inspection.
“[The data will be] available in a public setting for regulators, governments, commercial entities to come in and to test our code,” global chief security officer Roland Cloutier said.
TikTok claims it will let qualified government personnel review its algorithm and source code at a transparency and accountability centre in Los Angeles in the United States, or through virtual tours.
Additionally, TikTok’s owner ByteDance says it will establish a US subsidiary to get around looming bands.
In a new deal with Oracle and WalMart, majority ownership of TikTok Global is set to be placed be in American hands, in order to comply with an August 14 executive order by US President Donald Trump that ByteDance give up ownership of TikTok within 90 days.
TikTok registered as a business in Australia last year, but two of three directors of the Australian company are senior executives of ByteDance.