“Sociable” is the latest commentary on vital social media developments and trends from industry expert Andrew Hutchinson of Social Media Today.
With the U.S. government pushing to effectively takeover TikTok in the nation, and potentially influence the content that’s displayed in the app, it’s value considering the rising influence of TikTok on political discourse, and the role that it now plays in the evolving information landscape.
And while which will appear to be a radical claim, that the U.S. government could seek to influence what users see in the app if the proposed U.S. takeover deal goes through, TikTok’s latest U.S. ownership group can be 100% handpicked by the government, and would have “algorithmic oversight,” amongst other controls.
And with U.S. President Donald Trump recently remarking that he would make TikTok “100% MAGA” if he could, that does appear to be a priority, and some extent of note in assessing what TikTok might turn out to be, if the proposed deal is a hit.
Because TikTok is rising as a news platform, especially amongst younger users.
As you possibly can see on this chart, based on data from Pew Research, around 20% of U.S. adults now frequently get news on TikTok, up from just 3% in 2020.
And that trend is much more pronounced amongst younger audiences, with particular relation to political information:
So TikTok’s influence is critical, and growing, and as such, the suggestion that it might be manipulated by the government to potentially sway political views is a priority.
Of course, that then comes all the way down to the algorithm, and the algorithmic controls that the platform’s U.S.-based management group may need.
According to reports, the TikTok U.S. group would essentially lease the platform’s algorithm from its Chinese parent company, then “retrain it” using data from users based in the United States.
Retraining seems like this group may have some sway over what trends, and doesn’t, in the app. I mean, the Chinese government definitely has a level of control over what gains traction in the Chinese local version of TikTok (called “Douyin”), so it seems entirely feasible that a U.S. group would also have the ability to implement similar weighting on what gains the most traction, and sees broader distribution in the app.
Which makes Trump’s remarks more concerning.
Trump has also previously noted that TikTok helped him win the U.S. election, especially with younger voters.
As per Trump:
“You know, I actually have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points and there are people who say that TikTok has something to do with it.”
So Trump has a transparent understanding of the impact that the platform can have on this respect, while he’s also criticized social platforms for censoring his speech in the past, and even sued them over such actions.
As such, the threat of a MAGA takeover of the app is realistic, though Trump has said that every one sides will likely be treated fairly under the proposed U.S. management.
If the deal is approved.
Notably, China still hasn’t commented on Trump’s latest TikTok takeover proposal, despite the White House claiming that it’s virtually a done deal. One of the hold ups could potentially be that the CCP is on the lookout for more concessions inside the deal, including Trump’s support for China’s ownership claim over Taiwan, which the U.S. has long opposed, in support of Taiwan’s independence.
That an app which rose to fame through viral dances is now at the center of geopolitical negotiations underlines the significance of social media in the broader landscape, and the value that political leaders see in such from this angle.
It’s also notable that TikTok is seeing more removal government requests from various regions over time.
How will a U.S.-owned TikTok cope with such, and if the White House has any level of direct influence on the same, how can or not it’s expected to administer foreign government requests in a good and equitable way? Granted, most of those requests relate to removals inside their respective borders, but some relate to broader removals and suppression efforts.
Another point of note from TikTok’s data is the minimal presence of China in TikTok’s “Covert Influence Operations” detection listings.
That only stands out because China-based groups are the most important contributor to Google’s TAG report, which looks at the same element. Comparing the two, TikTok lists that, in all of 2025, it’s detected a complete of two,076 accounts originating from China that had been found to be engaging in influence operations in the app.
In Google’s most up-to-date TAG Bulletin, which it published in July, it reported that it had terminated greater than 7,700 YouTube channels linked to coordinated influence operations run by Chinese state actors between April and June alone.
Logically, you’d assume that if Chinese influence operations were trying to sway Western users, then TikTok can be a more optimal vector for such, given the direct connection between TikTok and the CCP. But either YouTube is viewed as a more viable goal for such programs, or TikTok isn’t doing as well at catching them out.
All of this points to the potential of TikTok as a political influence tool, which can soon be inside the grasp of the U.S. government.
And while Trump and his team are working to reassure people about their approach on this front, there may be an actual concern that the temptation to sway the algorithms of their favour could eventually be an excessive amount of.
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