Harvard Law Today
Harvard Law Today
Surveillance and Censorship are Tiktok’s New Algorithm
Surveillance and Censorship are Tiktok’s New Algorithm
TikTok was originally launched in China under the name Douyin by the tech company ByteDance in Sept. 2016. Since then, the app's popularity has exploded worldwide. Launching in the U.S. officially as TikTok in 2017, the app has undergone many changes, the most impactful being its standoff with U.S. politicians and President Donald Trump.
Amid concerns from politicians that data from the app on American users would be accessible to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), legislators demanded that the American version of the app be sold to an American company. After months of standoffs, presidential deadline extensions through executive orders, and negotiations, TikTok’s US operations were bought on Jan. 22, 2026, by a majority American consortium of shareholders, including Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX, who now own approximately 80% stake in the new company, and the minority and founding shareholder ByteDance owns a 20% stake.
At first, the differences between the U.S. and international versions of TikTok were undetectable, but now censorship and algorithmic changes in the U.S. version are undeniable. The day after the deal to sell 80% of the company’s stake to U.S. shareholders went through, the US version of the privacy policy was changed to permit more data collection. This shift to increased surveillance by U.S. shareholders is hypocritical, as the primary concern with ByteDance owning TikTok was their heavy data collection.
“They have just sort of rewritten a more broad set of language or capabilities that the platform seems to have had before… For instance, they’re saying that they can much more precisely track your location. They also say that they will be able to follow you elsewhere when you are off of the platform. They can send advertising out to get you,” Jacob Ward, founder of “The Rip Current” podcast, said.
Privacy is not the only concern with the new American TikTok algorithm. In January 2026, the American version of TikTok faced user complaints about content being restricted if it covered controversial topics like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shootings in Minneapolis, the Epstein files and criticism of President Trump.
"We’ve been working to restore our services following a power outage at a U.S. data center impacting TikTok and other apps we operate. We're working with our data center partner to stabilize our service. Users may notice multiple bugs, slower load times, or timed-out requests, including when posting new content. Additionally, creators on the platform may temporarily see "0" views or likes on new videos. This is a display error, caused by server timeouts, and data and engagement are safe," TikTok said in a company statement.
While the company quickly released a statement citing a power outage as the cause of feed disruptions and delayed content distribution, many users and legislators are wary of this explanation.
“Following TikTok’s sale to a Trump-aligned business group, our office has received reports, and independently confirmed instances, of suppressed content critical of President Trump,” California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said on X.
While the investigation into whether or not TikTok violated California state law by censoring content is ongoing, many TikTok users and creators are now branching out to other online platforms to stay informed and exercise their right to free speech.
TikTok was originally launched in China under the name Douyin by the tech company ByteDance in Sept. 2016. Since then, the app's popularity has exploded worldwide. Launching in the U.S. officially as TikTok in 2017, the app has undergone many changes, the most impactful being its standoff with U.S. politicians and President Donald Trump.
Amid concerns from politicians that data from the app on American users would be accessible to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), legislators demanded that the American version of the app be sold to an American company. After months of standoffs, presidential deadline extensions through executive orders, and negotiations, TikTok’s US operations were bought on Jan. 22, 2026, by a majority American consortium of shareholders, including Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX, who now own approximately 80% stake in the new company, and the minority and founding shareholder ByteDance owns a 20% stake.
At first, the differences between the U.S. and international versions of TikTok were undetectable, but now censorship and algorithmic changes in the U.S. version are undeniable. The day after the deal to sell 80% of the company’s stake to U.S. shareholders went through, the US version of the privacy policy was changed to permit more data collection. This shift to increased surveillance by U.S. shareholders is hypocritical, as the primary concern with ByteDance owning TikTok was their heavy data collection.
“They have just sort of rewritten a more broad set of language or capabilities that the platform seems to have had before… For instance, they’re saying that they can much more precisely track your location. They also say that they will be able to follow you elsewhere when you are off of the platform. They can send advertising out to get you,” Jacob Ward, founder of “The Rip Current” podcast, said.
Privacy is not the only concern with the new American TikTok algorithm. In January 2026, the American version of TikTok faced user complaints about content being restricted if it covered controversial topics like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shootings in Minneapolis, the Epstein files and criticism of President Trump.
"We’ve been working to restore our services following a power outage at a U.S. data center impacting TikTok and other apps we operate. We're working with our data center partner to stabilize our service. Users may notice multiple bugs, slower load times, or timed-out requests, including when posting new content. Additionally, creators on the platform may temporarily see "0" views or likes on new videos. This is a display error, caused by server timeouts, and data and engagement are safe," TikTok said in a company statement.
While the company quickly released a statement citing a power outage as the cause of feed disruptions and delayed content distribution, many users and legislators are wary of this explanation.
“Following TikTok’s sale to a Trump-aligned business group, our office has received reports, and independently confirmed instances, of suppressed content critical of President Trump,” California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said on X.
While the investigation into whether or not TikTok violated California state law by censoring content is ongoing, many TikTok users and creators are now branching out to other online platforms to stay informed and exercise their right to free speech.