The United States has reached a deal for a group of American-Israeli Zionists, led by Larry Ellison’s Oracle, to take control of TikTok’s US operations and control the algorithm for American audiences. The move comes after years of pressure on ByteDance, the Chinese parent company, to divest from the popular video app.
According to reports this week, Oracle and its partners will hold an 80 percent stake in a new U.S. TikTok entity, while ByteDance will retain a minority share. U.S. data will be stored on Oracle servers in Texas, and the American version of TikTok will run on a separate algorithm from the global app.
Ellison’s Influence
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, a Jewish billionaire with long-standing ties to pro-Israel causes, is expected to wield significant influence over the new structure.
Ellison’s company will not only manage U.S. user data but also play a central role in maintaining the algorithm that determines what content American users see.
Critics argue that this amounts to a Zionist takeover of the app. They warn that the algorithm will be steered to promote pro-Israel narratives and suppress balanced content sympathetic to the seven countries they have attacked this year, including Palestine.
The concerns are especially serious because TikTok has become the main platform for Generation Z, where political opinions are often shaped. Over the past year, surveys and protests have shown that younger Americans are increasingly skeptical of Israel’s actions in Gaza and the wider region and more willing to question unwavering and costly U.S. support for its ally.
By controlling TikTok’s algorithm, pro-Israel interests could silence the very voices that have been shifting youth opinion.
Unprecedented Control
While U.S. officials insist the deal is about national security and data privacy, the arrangement effectively hands control of the nation’s most youth-oriented social media platform to investors with clear ideological commitments.
China, meanwhile, has suggested it will still retain some say through licensing of the core TikTok algorithm, but the political and cultural direction of the U.S. app will rest in American — and specifically pro-Israel — hands.
The deal is expected to be finalized by December 16, 2025, the deadline set under U.S. law. Until then, questions remain over how much influence Oracle and Ellison will exert over the app’s recommendation system — and whether the platform will remain a space where younger users can freely challenge mainstream narratives on Israel and Palestine.