TikTok denies report on creating US-only algorithm to bypass ban

New Delhi, May 31
Chinese short-video-making app TikTok, which is facing a nationwide ban in the US, on Friday denied a media report that it is splitting its source code to create a US-only algorithm to bypass the ban.

A media report claimed that TikTok is working to create a version of its recommendation algorithm that operates independently from Douyin, the Chinese version operated by its parent company ByteDance.

“The Reuters story published today is misleading and factually inaccurate,” TikTok said in a post on X social media platform.

The company said that as per its court filing, “the qualified divestiture demanded by the Act to allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States is simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally”.

“And certainly not on the 270-day timeline required by the Act,” TikTok added.

The Chinese company is trying hard to convince US lawmakers to avoid the ban.

Earlier this month, TikTok and its Chinese parent company filed a legal challenge against the US government over a law forcing ByteDance to sell off the ultra-popular app or face a nationwide ban in the country.

Last month, US President Joe Biden signed a TikTok ban bill into law, after it was passed by both Houses of Congress.

It gives ByteDance 270 days to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese buyer, with the possibility of a 90-day extension if the US President determines it necessary.