Six years of standoff, a federal law passed under pressure, validation by the Supreme Court, an ultimatum accompanied by a threat of immediate ban. An application briefly taken offline. Millions of creators mobilized. An assumed confrontation between Washington and Beijing. And, ultimately, an agreement presented as a historic outcome by Donald Trump on his own social network Truth Social, which can also be seen as an immense gap between the scale of the conflict and the real scope of the solution.
In any case, if the restructuring of TikTok does not resolve the strategic question which was at its heart, it puts an end to a soap opera that has become politically unmanageable.
A political crisis before being technological
Since 2019, TikTok has continued to change its status, from an entertainment application to a national security issue, then a symbol of Sino-American rivalry. The law passed in 2024 explicitly aimed to sever ties between TikTok and ByteDancein the name of the risk that the platform could be used for surveillance or influence purposes.
A procedural victory
The new capital structure is simple, with more than 80% of TikTok US now owned by non-Chinese investors, including OracleSilver Lake or MGX. Governance becomes predominantly American, its new general director Adam Presser is American (he also managed TikTok France) and content moderation is carried out on American soil.
The intact heart
The recommendation algorithm, the economic, cultural and political engine of TikTok, remains the property of ByteDance. It was not transferred but simply licensed to the American entity.
This point is the structuring element of the file, because without control of the algorithm, TikTok US controls neither the hierarchy of content, nor the dynamics of virality, and even less the functional evolution of the product. In other words, the United States secured the shareholding, not the technology.
A separation that doesn’t really separate
If the agreement satisfies the requirement under US law to end any operational relationship between TikTok in the United States and its Chinese parent company, lTechnological dependence persists. ByteDance remains critical supplier, holder of the code. Beijing, which very early on classified these technologies among the strategic assets subject to export controls, has never relaxed this grip.
Risk displaced, not eliminated
By seeking to neutralize one risk of foreign interference, the agreement opens another, the new TikTok US is now backed by investors closely linked to the American political establishment. Lhe question is now less that of foreign influence, than that of domestic bias, in a platform that is now central in the American public space, with more than 200 million users.
An exit from the top, without a fundamental solution
The agreement allows TikTok to remain in the United States and the administration to close a file that has become too visible, too long, too costly. It provides continuity for users and advertisers. It offers a presentable outcome to a crisis that has become chronic, but on the scale of the ambitions displayed, the result raises questions.
