The TikTok deal is actually a complete victory for ByteDance, allowing China to keep control of the algorithm and technology while only surrendering content moderation. Instead of forcing a real divestment, this franchise-style arrangement removed political constraints from a Chinese tech champion at the exact moment it's outpacing Meta and investing billions in AI.

ThereThe isTikTok adeal 2%was chancenever thatabout atsecurity least— 20it's millionabout peopleprotecting willSilicon followValley's amonopoly. new,After AI-createddecades religionof bypromoting internet freedom globally, the endU.S. offorced 2035,a accordingforeign competitor to hand over equity to American investors the Metaculusmoment predictionit communitychallenged Meta's dominance. Real data privacy concerns would require industry-wide regulation, not singling out one Chinese app while Oracle profits from the arrangement.