TikTok Preserves Platform Through Deal Addressing Algorithmic Manipulation Concerns

The widely popular video-sharing platform TikTok has finalized an ownership restructuring that establishes a majority American-owned entity with specific protections against algorithmic manipulation of content exposure. The announcement Thursday addresses one of the core concerns that motivated ban legislation.
ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, has agreed to a structure reducing its ownership to 19.9%, while American investors assume controlling interest with 80.1% of the company. Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX share equal 15% ownership stakes, with Michael Dell’s investment firm providing additional capital to the American ownership consortium.
This resolution addresses legislation enacted by Congress in 2024 that reflected particular concern about algorithmic manipulation—the ability of platform controllers to artificially boost or suppress content to influence what users see and believe. Lawmakers worried that foreign ownership could enable subtle manipulation of American public discourse through algorithmic tweaking that would be difficult to detect or prove. The legislation contemplated structural protections preventing such manipulation.
Leadership of the American entity will be entrusted to Adam Presser as CEO, with his trust and safety background positioning him to oversee anti-manipulation systems. The company will be governed by a seven-member board of directors with an American majority and cybersecurity experts capable of evaluating algorithmic integrity. Current global TikTok CEO Shou Chew will participate as a board member.
The new US entity commits to implementing safeguards specifically designed to prevent algorithmic manipulation, including algorithm security measures that ensure recommendation systems operate based on user engagement rather than external directives. The platform’s recommendation algorithm undergoes complete retraining using exclusively US user data, with continuous testing to verify it operates based on authentic user preferences rather than manipulation. Additional protections include comprehensive data security, enhanced moderation, and software integrity verification. Both governments have approved the arrangement addressing manipulation concerns.