evidence: Beyond access to data, the CCP’s likely control over TikTok’s algorithm—originally designed using ByteDance’s algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) models—raises questions about the app’s potential to be actively manipulated by CCP-linked actors.REF During divestment talks with Oracle in 2020, ByteDance representatives reportedly indicated that they would not surrender TikTok’s source code to the U.S. company and would instead retain it in China.REF After all, the CCP would have much to lose if ByteDance transferred the algorithm to an American company. FBI Director Christopher Wray appeared to explain why in a public speech more than two years later, asserting that the Chinese government both controls ByteDance and has the "ability to control the recommendation algorithm."REF In a later hearing in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2023, Director Wray testified that the Chinese government could control the software and data of millions of users who have TikTok on their devices, as well as spread propaganda within America.REF Given the CCP’s authoritarian track record, it is naive to believe that it has not taken advantage of these capabilities.