TikTok’s Algorithm Will Be Under American Control In Trump’s Deal
President Trump is expected to sign an executive order this week to finalize a long-rumored TikTok acquisition. In view of the impending deal, more details surrounding how the U.S. will tweak TikTok have come to light, including changes to the app’s algorithm that is essential to its success and core to security concerns surrounding the app.
Per Bloomberg and others, Oracle Corp. will handle security for the new U.S. version of TikTok and be charged with developing and adjusting the app’s algorithm. In the tentatively agreed deal, TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, will lease a version of its algorithm technology to Oracle, which will then retrain the algorithm, undoubtedly to satisfy the White House’s demands.
Although some Chinese investors in ByteDance reportedly remain in the dark about the U.S. TikTok deal, President Trump has been characteristically active in public discussions concerning the agreement. In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Trump noted that the TikTok purchasing group includes right-wing media moguls Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, plus Dell founder Michael Dell and, unsurprisingly, Oracle chairman Larry Ellison.
“I think they’re going to do a really good job,” Trump said of the cohort, calling them “American patriots.”
Following Trump’s comments on the Murdochs being involved, reports filtered out that suggested the duo would invest in TikTok on behalf of one of their media companies, Fox Corp., rather than on a personal basis.
The pending TikTok agreement would give Oracle and numerous media moguls direct influence and control over TikTok’s algorithm, which is a significant deal and could transform the way the app works and, more importantly, the content it serves.
Way back in 2024, when discussing the original TikTok ban legislation that Trump spearheaded during his first term, tech analyst Dan Ives told PBS that “Buying TikTok without the algorithm would be like buying a Ferrari without the engine.”
Although all social media platforms have algorithms that carefully curate content for users, TikTok’s has long been noted for being particularly effective. This effectiveness is part of what put the app in the crosshairs of American legislators in the first place, as politicians on both sides of the aisle believed that China was using TikTok’s algorithm to influence American ideology.
Now, a carefully selected group of American tech companies and “Trump loyalists,” as left-wing media outlet Mother Jones puts it, will be charged with developing and maintaining TikTok’s algorithm for users in the United States. Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said on Fox News on Saturday that “six of [seven] seats” on the board that controls TikTok in the U.S. will be occupied by Americans. It is looking like these six will be exclusively those in the president’s good graces, rather than a bipartisan panel.
The White House has described Oracle’s involvement with the TikTok algorithm as preventing “improper manipulation.” However, it’s unclear what that means or what type of content or creators will fall under the umbrella of being labeled manipulative. Social media companies under this second Trump administration have significantly changed how they serve content to users, loosening fact-checking restrictions, minimizing censorship, and reducing content moderation.
The TikTok acquisition deal is still not finalized. Despite the White House speaking about the deal like it’s a sure thing, the Chinese side has been far less emphatic. China has yet to confirm that there is any agreement on a contract. However, its foreign ministry noted that it “respects the wishes of [ByteDance], and would be happy to see productive commercial negotiations in keeping with market rules lead to a solution that complies with China’s laws and regulations and takes into account the interests of both sides.”
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
