\n<\/p>\n
A report from Reuters<\/em><\/a> <\/em>says that work has been ongoing since last year to create a version of TikTok\u2019s recommendation algorithm that operates independently from Douyin, the Chinese version of the app operated by its parent company ByteDance. According to the unnamed sources, completing the project could take more than a year as part of a plan to show lawmakers that the US business is independent of its owner in Beijing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The report says executives have talked about the project in all-hands meetings and on the company\u2019s internal messaging system, Lark. The sources also said that splitting the source code would cut TikTok off from the \u201cmassive engineering development power\u201d of its parent company.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n TikTok responded by tweeting<\/a>, \u201cThe Reuters story published today is misleading and factually inaccurate.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n In emails to The Verge<\/em>, TikTok spokesperson Michael Hughes said, \u201cWhile 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,\u201d and when asked if the code is being split, responded that is \u201c100 percent false.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n TikTok has tried to convince lawmakers of its US independence before, with the \u201cProject Texas\u201d data silo that it described as \u201can unprecedented initiative dedicated to making every American on TikTok feel safe, with confidence that their data is secure and the platform is free from outside influence.\u201d However, Alex Heath visited a Transparency and Accountability Center last year<\/a> and, amid the project\u2019s transparency theater, found a company that \u201cseems to have realized that it won\u2019t save itself from a US ban on the technical merits.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n