Trad wives, trumpettes and transphobic commentators might soon become a frequent fixture of your “For You Page” as the MAGA administration makes a play for social media app TikTok.
The Trump administration has pushed forward a deal that would hand control of TikTok’s American operations to a group of US investors. The plan: a seven-member board, six of them American, ensuring the platform is firmly under US watch.
The president has suggested a consortium of US businesses, including Oracle, helmed by Trump loyalist Larry Ellison and Fox Corporation, controlled by media titans Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch.
“I hate to tell you this, but a man named Lachlan is involved. Lachlan is, that’s a very unusual name, Lachlan Murdoch,” Trump said. “And Rupert is probably going to be in the group. I think they’re going to be in the group. A couple of others. Really great people, very prominent people. And they’re also American patriots, you know, they love this country. I think they’re going to do a really good job.”
Who Owns TikTok?
The app is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. In 2024, US Congress passed a law to ban the social media app unless it was sold to a US company, citing national security and privacy concerns. The Trump administration has extended the deadline for the ban several times as a deal was hashed out between the US and China.
As part of the proposed deal, TikTok’s proprietary algorithm “will also be controlled by America”, said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
What Does The Deal Mean For Australians?
If Trump’s proposed deal is successful, Australians may be asked to consider the choice between a Chinese-owned TikTok or one owned by Trump’s billionaire backers.
“It would be an unfortunate thing if there was a safe version of TikTok in the United States, but a version of TikTok in Australia which was still controlled by a foreign authoritarian government,” Liberal senator James Paterson.
Tom Sulston, head of policy at Digital Rights Watch, said it was the surveillance of users that was the issue, not the ownership of TikTok, and that the move to bring TikTok under US control was “baffling”.
“The problem is not the ownership. The problem is the constant and intrusive surveillance of the user base. Users of a US-owned TikTok won’t enjoy any more privacy than they did with a Chinese-owned TikTok, on account of the lack of meaningful regulation of social media companies,” he said.
It seems that the message is clear: TikTok can stay, but only if it plays by America’s rules and with Trump’s chosen allies holding the reins. It’s a deal as much about controlling data as it is about controlling the narrative, and sadly, Australia might soon bear the cost.
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