Tag: tik tok

Trump Signs Executive Order Rescuing TikTok in the U.S.: $14 Billion Sale to American Investors Like Oracle and Silver Lake

President Donald Trump signed an executive order this Thursday, saving TikTok from an imminent ban. The platform, boasting 170 million users in the U.S., is now transitioning to a consortium of non-Chinese investors who will control 80% of its operations.

ByteDance, its Chinese parent company, retains less than 20%, specifically 19.9%, along with a single seat on the board of directors. The valuation of the new U.S.-based TikTok reaches $14 billion, as confirmed by Vice President J.D. Vance during the White House ceremony.

Though controversial for being lower than previous estimates of up to $40 billion, this price reflects Trump’s commitment to national security without compromising innovation. Trump, who credits part of his 2024 electoral victory to TikTok—where he has amassed 15 million followers—hailed the deal as «the art of the deal.»

«It’s run by Americans, and very sophisticated ones,» the president declared, emphasizing Oracle’s critical role in managing the algorithm and data security.

The crisis traces back to April 2024, when then-President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan law mandating that ByteDance divest 80% of TikTok’s U.S. operations or face a total shutdown due to national security risks.

The legislation, passed with broad congressional support, highlighted concerns over Chinese access to user data and the potential manipulation of the algorithm for propaganda purposes. Biden feared that the Chinese Communist Party might use TikTok to spy on American citizens or influence elections.

The law took effect in January 2025, but upon beginning his second term, Trump extended the deadline multiple times: first by 75 days, then 90, and most recently to December 16. These extensions facilitated intense negotiations with Beijing.

The turning point came in September 2025. Following a productive call between Trump and President Xi Jinping on September 19, both leaders finalized a framework agreement. Trump announced progress on trade, fentanyl, and TikTok approval via Truth Social. Xi, in turn, stressed a «fair environment» for Chinese investments but conceded on the divestiture.

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Congress calls Trump’s TikTok plan a good first step, but concerns remain about algorithm control

ongressional leaders see positive first steps in President Donald Trump’s TikTok deal, but are withholding full support until questions about control of the important content algorithm owned by China-based ByteDance are resolved. The Chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party says that the promise of divestiture is a good first step on the way to a final deal, but noted once again that an important requirement of the law passed by Congress is severing China’s connections to the app’s algorithm.  

“Transitioning to a majority American-owned entity would mark an important step in that process that could mitigate some of the ByteDance threat depending on the details, but divestment was not the law’s only requirement,” Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., said in a statement on Friday. 

Staying within the guardrails

“The law also set firm guardrails that prohibit cooperation between ByteDance and any prospective TikTok successor on the all-important recommendation algorithm, as well as preclude operational ties between the new entity and ByteDance,” said the chairman. 

The chairman promised that he would use his committee to conduct full oversight over this agreement, starting with an urgent briefing” that he requested from the Trump administration. Moolenaar also said he plans to hold a hearing next year with the leadership of the new American Tiktok entity, according to the press release.

TikTok’s operations in the United States have drawn significant scrutiny from Congress for years. Last year, Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed into law the bill requiring TikTok’s parent company, the China-based ByteDance, to either divest itself of the popular video sharing app or face a ban on operations in the United States. 

The bill aimed to address concerns that the Chinese company exercised the ability to weaponize the app against the American people on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party’s goals by gathering and exploiting citizens’ personal data.  

Of particular concern is ByteDance’s proprietary content suggesting algorithm, which experts say could be exploited to influence users and U.S. public opinion and politics at large. There is some evidence of this claim. Earlier this year, a study found that TikTok suppresses anti-China content and influences user opinion on the communist country’s human rights record and society. The researchers from Rutgers University and the Network Contagion Research Institute assessed this was done by likely manipulation of the content algorithm, though no definitive determination could be made without access to the code.

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Trump Signs Order to Allow TikTok to Continue Operating Under American Company

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday approving a deal to allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States, as the Chinese app becomes majority-owned by American interests in a new joint-venture company.

The deal involves TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, selling the social media app’s U.S. operations to a consortium of American investors, Breitbart News reported earlier this week. American technology giant Oracle, co-founded by centibillionaire Larry Ellison, will be entrusted to retrain the formerly Chinese-controlled TikTok algorithm “from the ground up” to create a separate, more secure version for U.S. users, according to Bloomberg. 

Trump continued to delay the impending TikTok ban in order to have enough time for the deal to fall into place, with Vice President JD Vance saying as the order was signed, “There was some resistance on the Chinese side.”

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As Ellison Buys Out TikTok, US Moves Toward One-Party Media

Larry Ellison, founder of the software firm Oracle, is the second-richest billionaire in both the US and the world, and for a brief moment was No. 1 in the world (AP, 9/11/25). But for a long time, unlike many of his peers, he was unable to boast that he controlled a chunk of the news and opinion reaching the American public.

On Forbes‘ US list, he is sandwiched between Elon Musk, No. 1, who bought the social media network Twitter and rebranded it as X, and Mark Zuckerberg, who runs Meta, which operates Facebook and Instagram. Jeff Bezos, at No. 4, has the Washington Post. Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, Nos. 5 and 6, operate the leading search engine as well as one of the most important news aggregators, Google News. Michael Bloomberg, at No. 13, the former New York City mayor, has Bloomberg and its various outlets.

Ellison seems to have joined the club, as TikTok, under US government coercion (FAIR.org, 1/23/25), is selling 80% of its US operations to an investor consortium that includes Oracle, along with investment firms Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz (Reuters, 9/16/25).

Ellison is a big Trumper, joining in the reactionary denial of the 2020 presidential elections (Washington Post, 5/20/22). Like some of the others in the deal, he is part of the inner circle of Trump’s favorite corporate ideologues. This TikTok deal is not just about money. It’s about control of the political narrative.

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Cop ignored dying man in back of hot police car, watched TikToks and sent ‘intimate’ texts instead: lawsuit

An Oregon cop allegedly left a mentally ill man to die in the back of a hot police car while the officer watched TikToks and texted about “snuggles,” according to a lawsuit.

Nathan Bradford Smith, 33, died of heat stroke aggravated by meth use during a July 2024 arrest when Coos Bay police officers allegedly left him in a parked patrol car to watch TikToks and send intimate texts instead of getting him medical help, according to a lawsuit filed by Smith’s family Wednesday.

The lawsuit blasts the city of Coos Bay, and Officers Benjamin Martin, Tristan Smith, and Wesley O’Connor for ignoring signs of obvious medical distress in Smith, accusing them of negligence and “deliberate interference.”

Smith, who had schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, was picked up by cops after multiple police encounters where he was found smoking methamphetamine and later speaking “quickly and incomprehensibly,” according to the lawsuit obtained by The Post.

At roughly 5 p.m. July 7, officers found Smith wearing a heavy coat and rain pants on the ground outside a Motel 6, the lawsuit detailed.

“One of the 911 callers indicated they were concerned for Mr. Smith’s safety,” according to the lawsuit. “Another caller indicated that Mr. Smith was on the ground ‘flailing around,’” the lawsuit said.

Smith was struggling to breathe as he was handcuffed by Martin, Smith and O’Connor while still on the ground, according to a state police officer who reviewed the body camera video of the incident.

He was barely able to get in the police cruiser, and his eyes were closed as he gasped for air, the lawsuit said.

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Court Ruling on TikTok Opens Door to Platform “Safety” Regulation

A New Hampshire court’s decision to allow most of the state’s lawsuit against TikTok to proceed is now raising fresh concerns for those who see growing legal pressure on platforms as a gateway to government-driven interference.

The case, brought under the pretext of safeguarding children’s mental health, could pave the way for aggressive regulation of platform design and algorithmic structures in the name of safety, with implications for free expression online.

Judge John Kissinger of the Merrimack County Superior Court rejected TikTok’s attempt to dismiss the majority of the claims.

We obtained a copy of the opinion for you here.

While one count involving geographic misrepresentation was removed, the ruling upheld core arguments that focus on the platform’s design and its alleged impact on youth mental health.

The court ruled that TikTok is not entitled to protections under the First Amendment or Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act for those claims.

“The State’s claims are based on the App’s alleged defective and dangerous features, not the information contained therein,” Kissinger wrote. “Accordingly, the State’s product liability claim is based on the harm caused by the product: TikTok itself.”

This ruling rests on the idea that TikTok’s recommendation engines, user interface, and behavioral prompts function not as speech but as product features.

As a result, the lawsuit can proceed under a theory of product liability, potentially allowing the government to compel platforms to alter their design choices based on perceived risks.

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Venezuelan influencer killed after accusing the Tren de Aragua and naming High-Ranking Chavismo officials.

On the night of June 22, riel Jesús Sarmiento Rodríguez, a brave 25-year-old Venezuelan influencer, was brutally murdered in his home in El Piñonal, Maracay, while livestreaming on TikTok.

Jesús Sarmiento Rodríguez, a brave 25-year-old Venezuelan influencer, was brutally murdered in his home in El Piñonal, Maracay, while livestreaming on TikTok.

Two armed men broke into his home, shooting him at least nine times and seriously injuring his mother with a shot to the abdomen. The crime, captured in real time, has shocked Venezuela and exposes the rot of a system where organized crime and political power appear deeply intertwined.

Sarmiento, known on TikTok as @unleacks, was a programmer and cybersecurity analyst who used his platform with 80,000 followers to denounce police corruption and the links between Chavista regime officials and criminal gangs such as the Tren de Aragua and the Tren del Llano.

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Transgender TikToker Goes Viral for Urging Followers to ‘Get a Gun’ and Kill ICE Agents

A transgender TikToker, who is a biological female, has gone viral for urging her followers to “get a gun” and kill Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The far-left TikToker, who goes by the name “Redacted Radical” on the platform, appears to be from either Alaska or California.

As of the time of publishing, The Gateway Pundit has been unable to verify her identity independently.

“You can just kill ICE agents,” she begins the video by saying. “You know that? You can just kill them.”

She continues, “You don’t have to hold your phone in their face and ask people when their birthday is, and ask people what their name is, and try to find wherever they end up in Los Angeles. You can kill them.”

“This isn’t about social media clout anymore,” she says. “This isn’t about video. This isn’t about the phone. This is about get a gun and start killing ICE agents.”

She concludes, “They are deputized corrections officers. Kill them.”

Before posting the video, she posted another one complaining that TikTok did not allow people to say whatever they wanted on the platform.

TikTok has since removed the original video, which she reposted. The platform subsequently removed the sound.

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France Just Redefined Global Speech on TikTok

TikTok’s decision to block the “SkinnyTok” hashtag across its entire platform followed direct intervention from the French government, revealing how national pressure is increasingly shaping global online speech, even when the content in question is not illegal.

French Digital Minister Clara Chappaz just claimed victory, celebrating the platform’s removal of the term often associated with extreme dieting and weight loss trends. “This is a first collective victory,” she wrote on X after TikTok confirmed the ban was now global.

A spokesperson for the platform stated the hashtag was removed as part of ongoing safety reviews and due to its“link to “unhealthy weight loss content.”

While the move has been portrayed as a step forward for user safety, particularly for young audiences, it also raises deeper concerns about the role of governments in controlling speech on private platforms.

The “SkinnyTok” content, though considered by some to be harmful, does not violate any laws. Still, the French government managed to pressure TikTok into removing it worldwide. This maneuver highlights a growing trend in which authorities seek to influence online content standards beyond their own borders, often using platforms as enforcers.

Rather than work through the European Commission or wait for outcomes from the ongoing investigation under the Digital Services Act (DSA), France chose to confront TikTok directly.

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Influencer Suggests White South African Refugees Should Be Violently Targeted

A TikTok influencer responded to the resettlement of white South African refugees in America by suggesting they should be violently targeted, remarking that unlike Trump, the Afrikaners “don’t have Secret Service” protection.

The clip was posted by a TikTok user called Your Favorite Corporate Auntie, who has 116,000 followers on the social media platform.

The woman said she was providing a “public service announcement” to South African refugees entering America, 59 of whom were welcomed on Monday.

The TikTokker proceeded to deliver a smiley, passive aggressive rant in which she pointed out that “black people who were students during apartheid – we’re grandmas and grandpas now – and we have the ear of Gen Z.”

“I also wanna let you know that our president, he has Secret Service, and you will not,” she said.

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