On Jan. 22, 2026, TikTok users would wake up to an unfamiliar message plastered on their screens once opening the app: “Updates to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.” There was no way to bypass it, and users needed to accept the changes to continue using the app. Of course, this caused some alarm within the community, especially learning on a surface level what changed. While this has supposedly been a long time coming since the attempted TikTok ban in early 2025, it still raises some questions as to what really happened.
In short, TikTok officially switched its ownership over from ByteDance, an internet technology company based in China, to TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. USDS JV is a newly formed joint company with multiple investors who now share an “Americanized” version of the app with ByteDance. Some of the notable investors are Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX, all of whom own the largest portion of all the other companies inside this deal. This was all to be in compliance with the Executive Order that originally kept TikTok from being banned in the United States. According to TikTok’s announcement of the new deal, this new ownership promises users better data security and user safety.
At first, this transfer in ownership may not seem too out of the ordinary. However, updated ownership inevitably means updated terms of service as well. This is where most of the user concern stems from. Even before the switch of ownership, users have complained about content censorship and shadowbanning certain topics from appearing on the For You page. More often than not, this specifically targets political content centered around topics such as national protests and anti-ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) content. While you may get the content you previously looked for, it is noticeably appearing less and less.
AJ Nowak’24, a frequent user of the app, has seen this change for themself. “The first day, there was more news station-based content, but I flipped past it, and it doesn’t show me much anymore. My algorithm had a lot of queer, disabled, and somewhat politically active people already in it, and I am still seeing them, but [it’s] definitely less and mostly [content] I seek out.” They continued, “I’m specifically talking about the For You’ page here. I’ve noticed that the like-to-view count on a lot of the content is dramatically lower than normal, and I have seen a few creators mention that their stuff isn’t getting pushed to the For You page anymore.”
There is also additional worry over whether a user actually owns their content once posted on the app. Users raise concern that with the new terms of service, users no longer “own” their videos, which instead belong to TikTok. This is not entirely true; you still have ownership of whatever content you post; however, there are a few small details that make it confusing. If you post anything with “original” content, such as music, TikTok has the ability to take that and use it for advertisement on the app and its own AI training.
TikTok has made it clear in its terms of service about new provisions for the use of not only generative AI on the platform, but also within the app itself. There are larger regulations for content creators who solely use AI to create their videos, most of which require a specific label on their videos to show this. Even with larger restrictions, this does not stop the app itself from using generative AI to regulate things such as the algorithm. These new terms state exactly what the AI is used for, creating transparency between the user and the owners.
Now, the privacy policy is where most users are considering cutting ties with the app. As most people may know, the privacy policy is meant to outline what data TikTok collects from you, and what data is protected from being used in the app. With old privacy policies, TikTok was able to gather data on personal aspects of your life, including (but not limited to) citizenship and immigration status, gender and sexual orientation, and mental health diagnoses. The new policy changes what they do with that data now, which they state that they will process in accordance with any applicable laws. In addition, it also allows for a more accurate GPS location from any device connected to the app. This gives TikTok a larger grasp on your data and allows it to do much more with it. Users have the ability to turn this function off, though, by taking steps such as stopping the syncing of their contacts,
There is another way that users are stopping TikTok from gathering their data: simply deleting the app. More than ever, people are moving to platforms like Instagram and RedNote to show their displeasure with these new policies. That is not the case with everyone, though. Rowan Wilson’27 shares that “the only reason I hesitate to delete [TikTok] is because it’s the only place I can use to make lip-syncing cosplay videos, the original purpose of the app when it was created 10 years ago, and I don’t want to lose the ability to do it because that’s very fun for me. I don’t do these often, maybe twice a year, but I don’t want to lose the option and [I] haven’t found anything that sucks less to use.” Like Wilson, many people struggle to delete TikTok because of its unique capabilities and communities. Unlike Instagram, there are so many niches to find that you feel at home anywhere on the app. “I might be convinced to delete it anyway, though,” says Wilson, “I just don’t want to lose an outlet for a creative hobby I have.”
So, should you delete TikTok? Ultimately, it is up to you whether this is your last straw with the app. Some do not want to take the risk, especially with the alleged problems Oracle has been posing on the app, while others decide just to take extra precautions. In the end, though, it is always a good idea to stay educated on what any social media app does, especially with your personal data, and the updated policies it may make in the future. It is also important to do your own research and work past those who attempt to fearmonger you into making a certain decision.
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