Getty ImagesTikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, has signed a deal with investors to run its business in the US.
But what does the move mean for the over 170 million Americans (or so the social media platform claims) who use the app?
The key may lie in how TikTok’s recommendation algorithm – the powerful system that curates the platform’s For You Page to predict content you might watch – is managed when it changes hands.
Social media industry expert Matt Navarra told the BBC the question will not be whether TikTok survives, but “what version of TikTok survives”.
‘Smoothing out the edges’
Currently, TikTok’s system depends on huge amounts of global data and feedback loops, which can change recommendations in an instant.
Under the terms of the deal, TikTok’s algorithm, which will be licensed by investor Oracle, is set to be retrained on American user data.
Mr Navarra said this could leave the app feeling “safer and sturdier” but also leave it at risk of “becoming less culturally essential” as a result.
“TikTok’s power has always come from feeling slightly out of control – weird, niche, etc.
“TikTok’s power has always come from its ability to present slightly out-of-control content that is weird, niche, uncomfortable, and sometimes politically sharp, often reaching audiences before it goes anywhere else,” he said.
“If you start smoothing those edges, you don’t just change moderation. I think you change its relevance.”
Matching ByteDance’s algorithm
The potential differences between the US version and the widely used TikTok may depend on whether it receives “all the new features, security updates, and platform improvements” at the same time as the international version.
as soon as the international version does, tech journalist Will Guyatt told the BBC.
And computing expert Kokil Jaidka from the National University of Singapore said she expected the things that make the platform popular – such as its short videos and shopping – are likely to “stay intact”, as these features are not dependent on the algorithm.
She said the changes might be more subtle and gradual, depending on if the narrower data inputs of the “siloed” US version can match the app’s global reach.
“If TikTok is operating with a licensed or partially diluted version of its recommendation algorithm, some of the system’s blind spots may start to matter more,” she said.
For users, she said this means in practice that the US algorithm may “lag in personalisation” and take longer to adapt to viral content.
Should we experiment or respond appropriately?
Larry Ellison, an ally of President Trump, chairs Oracle, TikTok’s long-standing cloud computing partner in the United States.
Another foreign entity, MGX – a government investment fund from Abu Dhabi – will join it along with private equity firm Silver Lake as the main incoming investors.
Pressure from these investors may also add to the US app’s feeling of “blander,” said Mr. Navarra.
“I think the real test won’t be whether the users leave,” he said.
“It will depend on whether TikTok still feels like the place the internet goes to experiment – or if it becomes the place it goes to behave.”
