Let’s talk TikTok yes, again, because even if you don’t scroll for hours, what happens with this app in the US is actually a BIG deal for everyone who uses the internet. Over the weekend, the White House revealed that when it comes to TikTok’s US operations, Americans will now hold six seats out of the seven on its board, leaving just one for TikTok’s owner, China’s ByteDance.
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Why is TikTok’s board getting a shake up?
The seed for this shake up was sown last year when Congress passed a law demanding that TikTok’s US assets must be sold by ByteDance, or the app would be totally banned in the States from January 2025. President Trump put that on hold for now, hoping to hammer out a deal so TikTok (which, let’s face it, is NOT going anywhere) can keep operating, albbeit, with a lot more American involevement and oversight.
The new plan says ByteDance gets ONE board seat out of seven. The rest go to Americans. ByteDance’s current shareholders, like KKR and General Atlantic, will now have less than 20% of the whole thing. The goal? Decouple TikTok’s US business from Chinese control as much as possible.
What happens to the TikTok algorithm post the shake up?
Here’s the biggie for techies, creators, and privacy hawks: The beloved-for-swipe-addicts TikTok recommendation algorithm will get a brand-new start. It’ll be rebuilt, run, and rechecked under US supervision, which will be using only American data, with all of it stored securely on Oracle servers IN the US. That means the days of Beijing deciding what trends on your FYP? Gone, at least theoretically. This also means that the US government will ultimately get a say in what content is pushed to the consumers of the short form video content on TikTok, which can be a bit of a double edged sword.
Will this actually achieve it’s end goal?
Well, it depends on whether lawmakers are satisfied. Some politicians feel this move isn’t strict enough, worrying that even a single board seat and less-than-20% stake may be a backdoor. TikTok is now a crucial tool for politicians too, with President Trump himself sitting on 15 million followers, and the official White House TikTok account just launched last month. That’s power nobody is letting go of easily.
The TikTok ban has also been paused, atleast until April of next year, which is enough time for the board to receive the shake up and for the new personnel to come in, settle down and hack out the details, making the app, tailored for the American audience as deemed fit by the American leadership.
So, in summary, if you are someone who stays in the United States, and are an avid user of TikTok, this is what you can expect in the coming days –
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TikTok will soon be run by a mostly American board.
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Your data will be stored in the US, not in China.
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The algorithm is going to be reengineered and will operate without ByteDance’s control.
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This could change how and what you see on TikTok, possibly making it safer, or at least more straightforward.
Stay tuned to this space for more updates on this situation.
