From Beijing to Silicon Valley: How TikTok US ownership shift changed nothing and everything.

TikTok sold, America watched: Inside the chaotic US ownership shake-up that has everyone talking

A platform built for fun, caught in a serious political moment

TikTok has always presented itself as a place for humour, creativity and fleeting trends. Yet behind the dances and viral clips sits one of the most powerful data-harvesting machines ever built. The recent change in ownership of TikTok’s US operations has dragged that reality into full public view. What was once a background concern for privacy advocates has become a mainstream conversation involving government power, corporate influence, surveillance technology and the uneasy relationship between platforms, users and advertisers.

After years of threats, investigations, executive orders and political theatre, TikTok’s US operations have been carved out into a new entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. This structure places domestic control of the platform into the hands of a consortium of US-aligned investors and technology firms, with Oracle taking a central role in data infrastructure and algorithmic oversight. Silver Lake holds a significant equity stake, while MGX, an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, adds international capital to the mix. The sale has been framed as a resolution to national security concerns. In practice, it has raised more questions than it answered.

The long road to divestment did not begin yesterday

The idea that TikTok posed a national security risk did not emerge overnight. Concerns around the app date back to at least 2019, driven by its Chinese parent company ByteDance and the fear that user data could be accessed by the Chinese state. In 2020, then President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 13942, seeking to prohibit transactions between US companies and ByteDance. The intention was clear. Either TikTok would be sold, or it would be banned outright.

That effort stalled in court, only to re-emerge under the Biden administration with a different tone but similar concerns. In February 2023, TikTok was formally banned from government devices due to its extensive data collection practices. Importantly, this made the issue bipartisan. Regardless of political affiliation, successive administrations agreed on one thing. TikTok collected far more data than was reasonable for a social media app.

After years of regulatory pressure and public posturing, the White House encouraged a domestic takeover. Rather than removing TikTok from US markets, the platform would continue operating under new ownership, new governance and new data controls. Or so the promise went.

What actually changed when TikTok US was sold

When the ownership transfer was finalised, US users were presented with updated terms of service and forced to accept them to continue using the app. This moment triggered widespread panic. Screenshots circulated online, highlighting clauses that referenced sensitive personal data, precise location tracking, financial information, immigration status and even health-related content embedded in messages and searches.

The uncomfortable truth is that most of these policies were already in place. TikTok has always collected invasive levels of data, similar in scope to Facebook, Instagram and X. What changed was visibility. Under the glare of political scrutiny, users began reading terms they had ignored for years.

Yet there was also a substantive shift. TikTok was not reducing its data intake. If anything, the scope of collection expanded, with clearer pathways for data sharing, processing and external oversight. The critical difference lay in who ultimately controlled that data and who it could be shared with under US law.

<script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7328752681574510"
crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
style="display:block; text-align:center;"
data-ad-layout="in-article"
data-ad-format="fluid"
data-ad-client="ca-pub-7328752681574510"
data-ad-slot="6142931475"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script>

Oracle, Palantir and the surveillance ecosystem

Oracle’s role in the new TikTok US structure sits at the centre of the controversy. As the company responsible for US data storage, cloud infrastructure and algorithm security, Oracle effectively became the gatekeeper of TikTok’s most valuable asset: user data. That alone would be significant. What raised alarms was Oracle’s deep strategic relationship with Palantir.

Palantir is not a social media company. It is a data analytics firm whose software is widely used by US government agencies, law enforcement and the military. One of its most controversial applications involves immigration enforcement. Reporting by independent outlets revealed that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is developing an enhanced leads identification system that draws on vast datasets to identify deportation targets. Palantir plays a key role in building such tools.

TikTok’s data policies explicitly reference the collection of immigration status, precise location and behavioural signals. When users saw these disclosures appear again after the ownership change, many connected the dots. While TikTok states that it complies with applicable laws and only shares data in limited circumstances, the scale of law enforcement data requests has increased dramatically. From 2019 to 2025, granted disclosures reportedly rose by more than one hundred times.

The concern is no longer about China harvesting data in secret. It is about US companies doing so openly, under legal frameworks that still offer limited transparency and weak safeguards.

Politics, power and the problem of trust

Adding fuel to the fire is the figure of Larry Ellison, Oracle’s co-founder and majority shareholder. Ellison is one of the wealthiest individuals in the world and a major political donor. He has hosted high-profile fundraising events, contributed tens of millions of dollars to conservative causes and positioned himself as an increasingly influential media and technology power broker.

For critics, this concentration of influence is troubling. When the same individuals fund political campaigns, own major media assets and control the data infrastructure of platforms used by hundreds of millions of people, the line between private enterprise and political power begins to blur.

Public trust eroded further amid claims of content suppression following the ownership transition. Reports surfaced suggesting that the word “Epstein” was being flagged or blocked in certain contexts on TikTok, coinciding with renewed controversy around unreleased court files. While TikTok attributed broader platform issues to technical outages, the timing raised eyebrows. Even anecdotal evidence was enough to reinforce existing suspicions in a politically charged environment.

Data Broker Removal Service

Data brokers are collecting, aggregating and trading your personal data without you knowing anything about it. We make them remove it.

The real issue users are only now confronting

For years, most users accepted invasive data practices as the price of free services. The TikTok saga has forced a reckoning. The problem is not that TikTok suddenly became dangerous. The problem is that its underlying model was always built on surveillance, behavioural manipulation and monetisation through hyper-targeted advertising.

Addictive dopamine loops, algorithmic amplification and opaque moderation systems are not bugs. They are features designed to maximise engagement and revenue. The ownership change did not reform this model. It merely shifted accountability from one geopolitical sphere to another.

In that sense, the backlash surrounding TikTok US reveals something deeper. Many users are discovering that American technology governance is not inherently more benevolent than foreign control. Data collection remains aggressive. Oversight remains limited. The incentives remain unchanged.

Advertisers caught in the crossfire

For advertisers, TikTok’s turbulence presents a growing dilemma. The platform delivers reach and engagement, but it also brings volatility. Regulatory threats, public distrust, algorithmic instability and reputational risk make long-term planning difficult. Brands risk having their campaigns disrupted by sudden policy changes or public backlash beyond their control.

This uncertainty has already driven interest towards alternative platforms and publishers that offer reach without chaos. Advertisers increasingly value stability, transparency and brand safety as much as raw impressions.

Pageviews

Pageviews (Jul-2024 – Dec-2025)

Data Completed to 31-Dec-2025 by Webalizer Version 2.23

Why stable media platforms matter more than ever

In an era defined by platform drama and political interference, independent digital publishers have regained relevance. Trusted media brands with loyal audiences offer something social networks struggle to guarantee: consistency. Editorial environments allow advertisers to place messages alongside content rather than controversy.

This is where platforms like sweettntmagazine.com stand out. With a constantly growing global readership, strong international visibility and a focus on high-quality content, Sweet TnT Magazine offers advertisers reach without the unpredictability that has come to define TikTok. It operates outside the surveillance-driven attention economy that fuels social media outrage cycles.

For brands seeking affordable global exposure, sweettntmagazine.com represents a strategic alternative. It delivers audience trust, contextual relevance and long-term value. As TikTok continues to navigate political pressure and public scepticism, advertisers would be wise to diversify their strategies.

The lesson of the TikTok US ownership change is not that users should panic. It is that platforms built on aggressive data extraction will always invite scrutiny. In contrast, stable media platforms focused on content rather than control offer advertisers something increasingly rare in digital marketing: peace of mind.

__________________