TikTok's sale to American investors finally frees the platform from Chinese control and protects national security. The deal ensures majority American ownership through Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX. A seven-member board dominated by Americans will oversee operations and safeguard American users' data from foreign influence.
This deal is a sham divestment that leaves TikTok's core technology in Chinese hands while pretending to address security concerns. ByteDance retains ownership of the underlying algorithm and keeps a 20% stake, meaning the structure looks more like a franchise arrangement than the clean break Congress demanded to eliminate covert data access risks.
There's a 95.5% chance that TikTok will still be available in the U.S., owned by a foreign adversary, on Dec. 31, 2025, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
© 2025 Improve the News Foundation.
All rights reserved.
Version 6.18.0