Last week, TikTok finalized a U.S.-based operating shift via a joint venture that meets the requirements of a Trump-issued executive order. Led by Oracle, ByteDance will still own a 20% minority share and this joint venture will be run by a 70 member board of directors. This unique company structure enables the app to remain live in the U.S. and is likely to have an impact on TikTok’s speed, innovation, decision making and future algorithm changes.
While TikTok’s core algorithm is expected to remain unchanged at this time, the transition has triggered heightened scrutiny and user concern. Across TikTok, X, and Reddit, users have reported reliability issues, shifts in post performance, and suspicions of content suppression tied to certain search terms, though no evidence has confirmed algorithmic or censorship changes.
At the same time, U.S. users were prompted to accept updated Terms of Service under the new TikTok USDS entity, which expanded provisions around location data, AI interactions, and off-platform ad targeting. While these updates largely align with standard industry practices, their timing has fueled skepticism and amplified sentiment-driven concern around government influence, signaling that TikTok’s U.S. operations will remain under close watch in the weeks ahead.
Social Reactions
Discussion around TikTok’s ownership, Terms of Service, and privacy policies has increased, contributing to user frustration and censorship-related concerns. At this time, there are no clear hashtags in use to categorize and connect social conversations on these topics.
- 160k Mentions
- Up 168% over the last 7 days
- 30% Negative, 18% Positive, 52% Neutral
Key Conversation Themes
- Censorship Concerns: Creators report reduced content visibility on TikTok, with some videos not appearing in feeds and an increase in content being placed under review.
- Data Collection Worries – Recent changes have created worry and confusion around the increased specificity of data collected from users.
- New Ownership Skepticism – Concerns about the new ownership’s motivations contributed to heightened user skepticism and the circulation of largely unverified claims.
- Resulting Social Behavior Changes – Calls for app deletion and migration to other platforms have increased among some users. Some TikTok users, creators and influencers report posting less due to declines in viewership or increased difficulty in posting. Upscrolled has seen a rapid rise in popularity and awareness as it is being positioned as the best alternative. The app holds the 6th spot in Apple’s App Store as of January 26, 2026.
SOURCE: Meltwater: Keywords TikTok AND (Ownership OR censorship OR Security OR collection or Terms of Service OR changes OR privacy)
Brand Guidance
As we saw when Elon Musk acquired Twitter (now X) in October of 2022, when a social platform comes under new ownership, we can expect a surge in conversation, debate, and skepticism about changes to that platform. We also anticipate at least some platform attrition as users experience real or perceived changes and subsequently evaluate their fit with the platform. In turn, these moments spark innovation and user growth with new and/or existing platforms. We are seeing current TikTok ownership-related conversations reflect these patterns in the early days of this transition, although it is important to note that social conversation volume is currently a fraction of a percent of the multi-month conversations about X.
At this stage, we are not recommending any changes to your current TikTok approach. Based on our analysis of current social conversations related to this ownership change, we advise staying the course on current plans for content planning, posting, paid boosting and influencer campaigns/partnerships. We will continue to monitor and evaluate these developing social conversations closely to determine if and when further action is advised for your brand’s presence on TikTok.
What We’ll Be Watching For Specifically In The Next 30 Days:
- Significant changes in brand account TikTok follower counts, audience attention and content performance KPIs (views, likes, total engagements)
- Topics discussed in your brand TikTok comments and sentiment of these comments
- Growth in overall social conversation about leaving or deleting TikTok, with special attention to influencers and creators leaving TikTok
- Migration, growth and innovation in alternative platforms
- Influencer and creator conversations and perspectives about real or perceived TikTok changes, platform migration, issues with posting, content performance challenges, etc.
