• This week a report by Reuters claimed TikTok was working on a version of its algorithm applicable only in the United States.
• The ByteDance-owned social media platform has since refuted the claims in the report.
• It says making a US-only algorithm is simply not possible.

This week a report from Reuters claimed that TikTok had a new plan in place in order to avoid having its parent company ByteDance divest its interest in the social media platform in order to continue operating in the United States.

That plan is a US-only algorithm which would be created by cloning the current core TikTok algorithm and splitting it to handle content geolocated to the US.

“The work on splitting the source code ordered by TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance late last year predated a bill to force a sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations that began gaining steam in Congress this year,” Reuters wrote.

“The sources, who were granted anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the short-form video sharing app, said that once the code is split, it could lay the groundwork for a divestiture of the U.S. assets, although there are no current plans to do so,” the publication added.

While the report is indeed interesting, it is not true. This according to TikTok, which took to X in order to share its thoughts on the article.

“As we said in our 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,” the TikTok Policy account shared on X.

“While we have continued work in good faith to further safeguard the authenticity of the TikTok experience, it is simply false to suggest that this work would facilitate divestiture or that divestiture is even a possibility,” added TikTok spokesperson, Michael Hughes, in a statement to The Verge.

As such, the prospect of a US-only algorithm for TikTok has been addressed before it can gain any kind of momentum, with Hughes also noting that any claims that the company can simply split the core code being, “100 percent false”.

Prior to the US Senate voting to pass a bill that will force ByteDance to divest its holdings in TikTok, the plan for the United States was to spin a data colocation facility with Oracle’s help called Project Texas.

Despite pushing for Project Texas to be the way to appease US lawmakers and any potential concerns around user data, it looks like the only way the platform will continue to operate Stateside will be divestment.

[Image – Photo by Eyestetix Studio on Unsplash]