With the U.S. authorities pushing to successfully takeover TikTok within the nation, and doubtlessly affect the content material that’s displayed within the app, it’s price contemplating the rising affect of TikTok on political discourse, and the position that it now performs within the evolving data panorama.
And whereas that will look like a radical declare, that the U.S. authorities might search to affect what customers see within the app if the proposed U.S. takeover deal goes by way of, TikTok’s new U.S. possession group could be 100% handpicked by the federal government, and would have “algorithmic oversight,” amongst different controls.
And with U.S. President Donald Trump lately remarking that he would make TikTok “100% MAGA” if he might, that does look like a priority, and some extent of word in assessing what TikTok may turn into, if the proposed deal is successful.
As a result of TikTok is rising as a information platform, particularly amongst youthful customers.
As you possibly can see on this chart, primarily based on information from Pew Analysis, round 20% of U.S. adults now repeatedly get information on TikTok, up from simply 3% in 2020.
And that pattern is much more pronounced amongst youthful audiences, with explicit relation to political data:
So TikTok’s affect is important, and rising, and as such, the suggestion that it could possibly be manipulated by the federal government to doubtlessly sway political views is a priority.
In fact, that then comes right down to the algorithm, and the algorithmic controls that the platform’s U.S.-based administration group may need.
In keeping with studies, the TikTok U.S. group would primarily lease the platform’s algorithm from its Chinese language mum or dad firm, then “retrain it” utilizing information from customers primarily based in the US.
Retraining appears like this group may have some sway over what developments, and doesn’t, within the app. I imply, the Chinese language authorities positively has a degree of management over what positive aspects traction within the Chinese language native model of TikTok (referred to as “Douyin”), so it appears completely possible {that a} U.S. group would additionally be capable to implement related weighting on what positive aspects essentially the most traction, and sees broader distribution within the app.
Which makes Trump’s remarks extra regarding.
Trump has additionally beforehand famous that TikTok helped him win the U.S. election, particularly with youthful voters.
As per Trump:
“You understand, I’ve a heat spot in my coronary heart for TikTok as a result of I received youth by 34 factors and there are those who say that TikTok has one thing to do with it.”
So Trump has a transparent understanding of the impression that the platform can have on this respect, whereas he’s additionally criticized social platforms for censoring his speech up to now, and even sued them over such actions.
As such, the specter of a MAGA takeover of the app is lifelike, although Trump has stated that every one sides will likely be handled pretty beneath the proposed U.S. administration.
If the deal is permitted.
Notably, China nonetheless hasn’t commented on Trump’s newest TikTok takeover proposal, regardless of the White Home claiming that it’s nearly a carried out deal. One of many maintain ups might doubtlessly be that the CCP is in search of extra concessions inside the deal, together with Trump’s help for China’s possession declare over Taiwan, which the U.S. has lengthy opposed, in help of Taiwan’s independence.
That an app which rose to fame by way of viral dances is now on the middle of geopolitical negotiations underlines the importance of social media within the broader panorama, and the worth that political leaders see in such from this attitude.
It’s additionally notable that TikTok is seeing extra removing authorities requests from varied areas over time.
How will a U.S.-owned TikTok cope with such, and if the White Home has any degree of direct affect on the identical, how can or not it’s anticipated to handle overseas authorities requests in a good and equitable method? Granted, most of those requests relate to removals inside their respective borders, however some relate to broader removals and suppression efforts.
One other level of word from TikTok’s information is the minimal presence of China in TikTok’s “Covert Affect Operations” detection listings.
That solely stands out as a result of China-based teams are essentially the most important contributor to Google’s TAG report, which seems to be on the identical component. Evaluating the 2, TikTok lists that, in all of 2025, it’s detected a complete of two,076 accounts originating from China that had been discovered to be participating in affect operations within the app.
In Google’s most up-to-date TAG Bulletin, which it printed in July, it reported that it had terminated greater than 7,700 YouTube channels linked to coordinated affect operations run by Chinese language state actors between April and June alone.
Logically, you’ll assume that if Chinese language affect operations have been trying to sway Western customers, then TikTok could be a extra optimum vector for such, given the direct connection between TikTok and the CCP. However both YouTube is considered as a extra viable goal for such applications, or TikTok isn’t doing as effectively at catching them out.
All of this factors to the potential of TikTok as a political affect software, which can quickly be inside the grasp of the U.S. authorities.
And whereas Trump and his group are working to reassure folks about their method on this entrance, there’s a actual concern that the temptation to sway the algorithms of their favour might ultimately be an excessive amount of.
