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Who Owns TikTok Now and How Could It Change for US Users?
Since TikTok's U.S. spin-off, users report censorship of anti-Trump content amid a data center outage affecting uploads, while competitor UpScrolled gains 14,000 daily downloads, Appfigures data shows.
- On Jan. 22, 2026, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC was established as a majority-U.S.-owned entity with ByteDance retaining less than 20%, and on January 23, 2026, U.S.-based TikTok users saw a mandatory Terms of Service pop-up requiring `Agree` to continue using the app.
- Driven by U.S. national security concerns, an executive order signed in September 2025 established the divest-or-ban framework requiring majority American ownership, brokered to spin out U.S. operations into a U.S.-majority entity.
- Under the refreshed privacy policy, TikTok privacy policy admits it may collect precise geolocation data unless users opt out, scans user-generated content , and collects immigration status and other sensitive personal data.
- Under the new structure, U.S. user data will be stored on Oracle's secure cloud servers and audited by third parties, while a seven-member, majority-American board including TikTok CEO Shou Chew oversees algorithm retraining on U.S. data.
- Some creators have already reacted by deleting accounts, including a comedian with more than 278,000 followers, while DownDetector outage reports peaked at more than 35,000 and creators face unstable earnings under platform rewards program despite $1.3 million EMV shown by Kolsquare.
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66 Articles
Understanding TikTok's New Ownership: What Does It Mean For US Users?
Source: Radio One / General TikTok’s U.S. operations have undergone a major shift. No longer owned solely by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, TikTok in the United States is now run by a new entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, according to a press release. Established on Jan. 22, 2026, this joint venture is majority-owned by U.S. and allied investors, with ByteDance retaining less than 20% ownership. Major stakeholders include Oracle, Si…
·New York, United States
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‘Hacks’ Star Meg Stalter Deletes TikTok After Claiming New Ownership Is Blocking Videos About ICE; Platform Says Disruption Is Due to Power Outage
"Hacks" breakout Meg Stalter has deleted her TikTok account after claiming that the app's new ownership is censoring videos critical of ICE.
·Los Angeles, United States
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Total News Sources66
Leaning Left11Leaning Right7Center19Last UpdatedBias Distribution51% Center
Bias Distribution
- 51% of the sources are Center
51% Center
L 30%
C 51%
R 19%
Factuality
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