TikTok has seen a sharp uptick in users removing the app since the company revealed plans to place its U.S. operations under a new joint venture structure.
The average number of daily deletions by American users jumped nearly 150% following the announcement, according to data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, signaling a notable shift in user behavior tied to the restructuring news.
The platform was wholly owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. However, amid concerns that the Chinese government could access Americans’ data and influence content trends on the app, President Donald Trump moved to ban TikTok for American users in August 2020. TikTok responded with a lawsuit, and a federal court issued an injunction preventing the ban from taking effect. After taking office, former President Joe Biden revoked Trump’s orders, effectively halting the effort.
In 2024, Congress passed legislation requiring ByteDance to either sell the app or face a nationwide ban. After returning to the White House, Trump signed a series of executive orders delaying enforcement deadlines while working to broker a deal that would shift ownership away from China-based ByteDance to a U.S. firm, possibly led by Oracle and a group of American investors.
Jan. 23, 2026, marked the final deadline for ByteDance to decide whether to divest. Lawmakers mandated the possible sale following national security concerns tied to past data misuse that could expose U.S. users to risk. Scrutiny also intensified around the platform’s algorithm, with fears about misinformation, possible Chinese government influence, and the suppression or promotion of certain content.
As of Jan. 22, 2026, ByteDance’s stake was reduced to 19.9%, with the remaining 80% held by a group of U.S.-led investors. Those investors include Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX, each with a 15% share, giving American interests primary control of the company.
Under the agreement, U.S. user data would be safeguarded through a U.S. Digital Services joint venture operating within Oracle’s secure domestic cloud infrastructure. The deal would also transfer oversight of the platform’s recommendation algorithm, allowing it to be retrained, tested, and updated using U.S. user data. With this arrangement, the Trump administration aims to keep American data out of China’s reach.
In theory, the new ownership structure should reassure U.S.-based users that their data is now under American control. Still, some high-profile creators are leaving the platform altogether. Dre Ronayne, who has more than 400,000 followers, said he deleted the app, arguing that its updated terms and moderation policies have become excessive.
Critics pointed to language in the revised terms referencing categories such as racial or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, and citizenship or immigration status. However, similar wording appeared in the platform’s August 2024 user agreement, meaning the provisions are not new.
Some users have followed the micro-influencer’s counsel and deleted the app. Many users took to Instagram, saying, “I’d feel safer with China having my data over the US.” This comment suggests major distrust in the United States and assured trust in China. This viewpoint is flawed, as the constant attacks are put forth by Chinese cyber forces trying to infiltrate U.S. infrastructure every day. Users have also said certain content on TikTok has been censored and blocked from uploading, specifically anything related to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but TikTok has denied the allegations and attributed the issue to power outages and technical problems.
I would posit that it just alarms them because this entire deal was orchestrated by Trump. Because anti-Trump rhetoric would have you believe that the president is looking to steal your information and use it against you. Yet, they would rather have it in the hands of a company that is under the direct control of a communist authoritarian government. One that has a tight hold on information and is behind the constant cyberattacks waged on U.S. infrastructure.
MARRIAGE HAS BECOME AMERICA’S NEWEST PARTISAN BATTLEGROUND
While this divestiture marks a historic shift in the digital landscape, many influencers have suggested that the platform’s aura is being traded for political security. They have said that the U.S. retraining of the algorithm will be a new form of censorship they have not seen before. Yet social media platforms have been known to censor content they don’t agree with, with examples stemming from the Twitter (now X) trials and the Facebook censorship during COVID-19.
With new ownership in place, many questions still remain regarding the future of TikTok. While the new deal will mean the successful relocation of data and algorithms to secure shores, a new challenge will arise: in an era where creators are growing wary of institutional control, the platform’s survival relies mainly on gaining users’ trust. If the TikTok community feels they can speak freely on the platform, then trust will be restored.