The relationship between TikTok and the United States has been tumultuous since TikTok hit screens in the U.S. in 2020. The app was briefly shut down earlier this year, leaving many concerned that their favorite social media platform may be gone for good. It seems that a new executive order from Donald Trump may have steadied the waters by backing a deal to shift TikTok’s U.S. operations into American hands, though it is too soon to tell whether the arrangement will hold up.
On Sept. 25, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that would require TikTok’s U.S. application to be “majority-owned by U.S. investors, operated in the U.S. by a board of directors with national security and cybersecurity credentials and subject to strict rules to protect Americans’ data and our national security,” according to the White House fact sheet.
This deal appears to be a part of Trump’s larger goal to shift the production and consumption of products away from internationally based companies in favor of American businesses and corporations. “It’s owned by Americans, and very sophisticated Americans,” Trump said at the signing. “This is going to be American-operated all the way.”
ByteDance, the Chinese tech company who created the platform, will hold less than 20% of the stock of the U.S. application. “Oracle—one of the nation’s leading technology companies—will act as TikTok’s security provider and independently monitor and assure the safety of all operations in the U.S,” according to the fact sheet. While Vice President JD Vance said that the transaction values the business at $14 billion, no real purchase price was provided, and ByteDance has not yet acknowledged that a transaction is taking place at the time that this article was written.
President Trump has stated that Chinese President Xi Jinping approved of the deal, although Vice President JD Vance said that the Chinese government initially resisted the agreement.
This agreement also still leaves many questions unanswered, including what will happen to the TikTok algorithm once the deal is finalized.
Trump officials said the agreement provides the new U.S. owners with control over the algorithm. “The U.S. company will have control over how the algorithm pushes content to users,” Vance said. “We want the business to make decisions on content based on the interests of the business and based on the interests of users.”
The exact details regarding the changes to the algorithm remain unknown, although many are uneasy about what this means for the fate of TikTok. According to a study recently published by Pew Research Center, 1 in 5 Americans regularly get their news from TikTok.
While some are hopeful that the new algorithm will ensure that news content on the platform is factual and truthful, others are concerned that the new algorithm will promote a pro-Trump bias.
While the president has previously joked that he would make the platform “100% MAGA,” he later remarked, “Everyone is going to be treated fairly. Every group, every philosophy, every policy will be treated very fairly.”
For now, many aspects of the future of TikTok in the United States remain uncertain. While the new executive order promises American ownership and oversight, there are many questions about the platform that have been left unanswered. As the future of TikTok in the U.S. enters this new chapter, all eyes are on the app to see if it will keep its millions of users scrolling while navigating increasing political and corporate pressures.
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