Why TikTok's first week of American ownership was a disaster

[marmar]

(Guardian) A little more than one week ago, TikTok stepped on to US shores as a naturalized citizen. Ever since, the video app has been fighting for its life.

TikTok’s calamitous emigration began on 22 January when its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, finalized a deal to sell the app to a group of US investors, among them the business software giant Oracle. The app’s time under Chinese ownership had been marked by a meteoric ascent to more than a billion users, which left incumbents such as Instagram looking like the next Myspace. But TikTok’s short new life in the US has been less than auspicious.

The day after TikTok’s arrival, its owners altered its privacy policy to permit more extensive data collection, including tracking the precise locations of its users. The change was notable less for any potential invasion of privacy than for suspicion of the new owners. The updated policy falls in line with those of other major social networks. But what did these men, among them billionaire Oracle owner and Maga donor Larry Ellison, intend to do with the user data? The tweaks aroused suspicion that would blossom into paranoia just a few days later.

During the weekend that followed the transfer of TikTok’s ownership, the US weathered two major events. A hefty, frigid snowstorm slammed the country and put about 230 million people on alert for power outages and burst pipes. And federal immigration officers killed a 37-year-old US citizen in Minneapolis during a protest, which elicited outright lies from the White House despite copious video footage. Both would knock TikTok off its feet, though in different ways. ..............(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/01/tiktok-first-week

[Whyisthisstillclose]

1. It's not paranoia if the suspicions are appropriate for self protection from billionaire assholes.

I would say suspicion is definitely in order.

[mwmisses4289]

2. Wait...I'm confused.

"...its owners altered its privacy policy to permit more extensive data collection, including tracking the precise locations of its users."

Wasn't this the whole reason u.s. politicians were screaming about TikToks chinese owners? If it's not okay for china, it's not okay for the u.s.

[Wanderlust988]

3. Joe Biden had no business signing this into law. Should've been vetoed.