As of Jan. 22, 2026, TikTok’s ownership changed. Before the app became TikTok, it used to be called “Musical.ly.” In November 2017, a company launched in China called “ByteDance” acquired Musical.ly for almost $1 billion and turned it into what we know now as TikTok in August 2018. As of now, there is a newly established TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, which is governed by a board of seven directors (majority of whom are American). Although there is new ownership, ByteDance will continue to retain a 19.9% stake in the company. Since the change, many users have complained about the app’s algorithm change. With Trump signing the deal for the change in ownership, Oracle oversees TikTok’s “for you page” and user data. After a few days of this new change, it was evident that users had a different algorithm from normal and were facing censorship.
After the ownership shift, TikTok announced that it would continue operating in the United States, securing the platform’s future for more than 200 million American users. Control of the TikTok’s U.S. operations now fall under the TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, which was previously mentioned. The recommendation algorithm that controls what users see on their for you pages have been licensed to Oracle, which already handled U.S. user data under a previous security agreement. Oracle will continue to manage the algorithm using only U.S. user data, a change meant to address previous national security concerns and an increase in government oversight.
Along with these structural changes, TikTok has updated its U.S. terms of service. American users are now legally connected to the new U.S. based company rather than the previous ByteDance. The updated policies include stricter rules for users on the app under the age of 13, limits on generative AI tools and expanded permissions for collecting precise location data. These changes have raised new privacy concerns among users as there is now a new tab on top titled “local” next to the For You Page. Users may continue to notice shifts in content recommendations, personalization and interface.