If you opened TikTok recently, you probably saw some weird things happen. Maybe you couldn’t post a new video. Perhaps the app requested your precise location. Maybe you weren’t seeing as much about ICE or the Trump administration’s latest attack on the global world order. If the latter is the case, you weren’t the only one.
When it comes to TikTok, the past week has been full of changes, challenges, and conspiracy theories. It was the first week of operations for the new company that manages TikTok in the United States: TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, a name that really rolls off the tongue. I like to call it TikTok USA so it doesn’t sound so much like a military operation, but some are simply referring to the new company as TikTok’s MAGA makeover.
There are some reasons to suspect this. Many of the new company’s investors, including Oracle and the Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX, have close ties to the Trump administration. President Donald Trump has even taken credit for “saving TikTok” by negotiating the deal that prevented the app from being banned in the United States on national security grounds. And in recent days, users have reported strange activity that seems very much in line with Trump’s agenda: no direct messages mentioning Epstein will be sent, videos critical of ICE will not be uploaded, and anti-Trump TikToks are being removed. Oracle spokesman Michael Egbert said Tuesday that “a temporary weather-related power outage” affected TikTok and caused “technical issues.”
However, what’s probably more significant than an outage and related glitches is how the TikTok USA experience will differ from the classic TikTok experience. Even before the censorship complaints began, the company released an updated privacy policy that collects even more data on its users. That includes your precise location, details of users’ AI interactions, and personal information you’ll share with a broader advertising network. There is also language in the new privacy policy that TikTok USA could collect data about “immigration status,” but that language was actually in the old privacy policy to comply with some state laws.
Then there is the question of the algorithm. TikTok is what it is because its powerful algorithm constantly delights and surprises hundreds of millions of users with incredibly targeted or simply engaging content. When the Trump administration announced the terms of the deal to spin off TikTok USA last year, there were many questions about who would own and control the American app’s algorithm. The same goes for content moderation, as well as trust and security policies.
We now know that TikTok USA will control all of these livers. ByteDance, which retains a 19.9 percent stake in TikTok USA, will license the content recommendation algorithm to the US startup, which will host the algorithm, as well as all US user data, on Oracle servers. Oracle, MGX and private equity firm Silver Lake represent the new company’s three managing investors, with each getting a seat on the board of directors. Other investors include companies linked to everyone from Michael Dell to former AOL chairman Steve Case and early Facebook investor Yuri Milner. Adam Presser, TikTok’s former head of operations and trust and safety, is the new company’s CEO. Presser was also previously chief of staff to TikTok CEO Shou Chew, who also serves on TikTok USA’s board of directors.
We still don’t know what the management of this new company will do. It’s not entirely clear that this group of men running the company (yes, the board of directors is all-male) is actually a cabal of pro-Trump operatives eager to turn the platform into MAGA’s new mouthpiece.
Some have stronger ties to Trump than others. Kenneth Glueck, an Oracle lobbyist and one of Larry Ellison’s lieutenants, played a key role in finalizing the Trump-backed deal and served on the transition team of the first Trump administration after donating money to him. Jeff Yass, founder of Susquehanna International Group, which owns 15 percent of ByteDance, is possibly the person who convinced Trump to get a deal with TikTok a few years ago, but he is not on the board. Susquehanna CEO Mark Dooley is. Silver Lake co-CEO Egon Durban also helped negotiate the TikTok deal and worked closely with Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, to get Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund into a deal to acquire Electronic Arts. (Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is apparently a big gamer.)
Does knowing all this make you want to delete your TikTok account? Apparently many people already are. Daily uninstalls grew 130 percent in the first four days of TikTok USA ownership compared to the previous 30 days. Smaller social media platforms will be happy to have you. UpScrolled, an app that has been promoting itself as an alternative to TikTok, is currently ranked second only to ChatGPT in Apple’s App Store.
It’s unclear if the “glitches” from earlier this week will persist or if the algorithm will suddenly start serving more MAGA-adjacent content, push more crypto schemes, or simply show you more AI glitches. This kind of thing has happened before, when social media platforms changed hands.
What seems to be the most obvious explanation for what’s happening on TikTok USA is that the formerly Chinese-owned platform is becoming American. Their privacy policy updates more or less reflect what companies like Meta and Google have been doing with their American users for years: collect as much data and make as much money as possible. TikTok USA’s board of directors has some probably pro-Trump types, but Silicon Valley is full of them these days. Look no further than the billionaire brawl at Trump’s second inauguration for evidence that the tech industry cares more about access to power.
If all this bothers you, delete the app. Heck, even if it doesn’t bother you, consider devoting your attention elsewhere. TikTok was never very good for you.
A version of this story was also published in the User Friendly newsletter. Register here so you don’t miss the next one!