Fears Grow Over U.S. Control of TikTok’s Content Flow

With Washington pressing forward on a plan to effectively seize control of TikTok in the United States, and potentially shape the content distributed through the app, the debate over TikTok’s growing role in political discourse is taking on new urgency.

At first glance, the notion that the U.S. government could directly influence what users see might sound far-fetched. Yet under the proposed arrangement, TikTok’s U.S. ownership group would be appointed entirely by the government and would have “algorithmic oversight,” among other levers of control.

That’s where President Donald Trump’s recent remark—saying he would make TikTok “100% MAGA” if given the chance—becomes more than just a throwaway line. It underscores the risk of political influence at a time when the app is becoming a major source of news, especially among younger audiences.

According to Pew Research, roughly one in five American adults now regularly get their news on TikTok, up dramatically from just 3% in 2020. Among younger demographics, the numbers are even higher, particularly when it comes to political information.

This growing influence makes TikTok an attractive—and potentially dangerous—tool if it were to fall under partisan sway. The question, then, comes down to the algorithm, and what level of manipulation could be exercised by a U.S.-based management group.

Reports suggest that this new American entity would lease TikTok’s algorithm from its Chinese parent, then “retrain” it using U.S. user data. Retraining implies more than technical maintenance—it suggests the ability to adjust what rises and falls within the app’s ecosystem. In China, the government exerts significant influence over Douyin, the domestic version of TikTok. It is not difficult to imagine a U.S. government, under pressure from political leaders, doing the same.

Trump, for his part, has never hidden his appreciation for TikTok’s impact. He has previously claimed the app helped him secure younger voters in his election win, noting, “I won youth by 34 points and there are those that say that TikTok has something to do with it.” At the same time, he has long railed against censorship on social platforms and even taken legal action over it. That duality—an embrace of TikTok’s reach coupled with hostility toward other platforms—illustrates just how potent a political weapon the app could become.

While Trump insists that all sides would be treated fairly under the U.S. plan, skepticism remains. China, notably, has yet to issue a formal response to this latest takeover proposal, despite White House claims that the deal is all but finalized. Some analysts speculate Beijing may be holding out for concessions, potentially even something as far-reaching as U.S. acknowledgment of its Taiwan claims—a nonstarter for Washington, but an indication of the geopolitical weight tied up in this negotiation.

That a platform once synonymous with viral dance trends now sits at the center of global power politics speaks volumes about the evolving role of social media in shaping information flows.

The challenge for a U.S.-run TikTok will not stop at domestic concerns. The platform has faced a rising number of government requests for content removals worldwide, and if Washington has direct influence, questions remain over how it will handle such demands from abroad.

Adding to the complexity, TikTok’s internal reports on covert influence operations reveal surprisingly few cases linked to China—just over 2,000 accounts identified in 2025. By comparison, Google’s Threat Analysis Group reported terminating more than 7,700 YouTube channels tied to Chinese state actors in just one quarter. The discrepancy raises doubts about whether TikTok is effectively identifying influence efforts, or whether such campaigns are being conducted elsewhere with greater intensity.

All of this highlights TikTok’s evolving status as a political force—one that may soon rest squarely in the hands of the U.S. government.

And while Trump and his allies continue to emphasize that they’ll manage the platform responsibly, the temptation to tilt its powerful algorithm to favor their political fortunes may prove impossible to resist.

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