TikTok’s U.S. ownership shift raises creator concerns over algorithm changes
The picture of TikTok’s future in the U.S. is starting to come into focus. With a U.S. ownership deal looming, influencers and content creators fear the algorithm, TikTok’s so-called secret sauce, will become a political battleground.
More details of the proposed deal were announced last week. U.S. based companies, like Oracle, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, private equity investment group Silver Lake and Fox Corp, the parent company of Fox News, would be given majority ownership over the app.
In other words, privately held U.S. entities would control the algorithm and data under a regulatory framework. Official policy changes haven’t kicked in yet, and a potential ban is still on the table, but the news has creators wary.
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Related Knowledge Center: The TikTok ban
The U.S. Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed into law a measure banning TikTok if it weren’t sold by its Chinese ownership. But now-President Donald Trump gave the service a reprieve, and a sale of its U.S. operations appears imminent.