NYC’s public Wi-Fi network nixes deal to bring TikTok to ‘every street corner’
NY Post
New York City’s public Wi-Fi network has nixed a controversial deal with Chinese-owned TikTok to bring the service to “every street corner” after a Post inquiry and as congressional scrutiny over the app rages.
The planned partnership between the tech firm Intersection and LinkNYC was designed to allow TikTok’s “Out of Phone” service — which expands its wildly popular cell video content to public displays everywhere from billboards to bars — to screens on city cell-phone poles and at its Wi-Fi kiosks.
But Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Ritichie Torres (D-Bronx) got wind of the plan and immediately demanded that Mayor Eric Adams scrap the deal, claiming it represented a national security threat, given the company’s ties to China.
Intersection then told The Post on Sunday that the TikTok deal has been iced after the outlet asked about it.
“While this relationship never involved the collection or sharing of any data, Intersection has already paused the TikTok content partnership and is in the process of ending it due to recent developments at the federal level,” an Intersection rep said.
That’s a stark departure from what Intersection said when it announced the TikTok partnership in February, with a company representative crowing in a statement, “Our collaboration with TikTok takes their initiative to every street corner of NYC.”
