US will control TikTok’s algorithm under deal, White House says

A TikTok deal between the U.S. and China will give Americans six of the seven board seats and control over the popular social media app’s algorithm, the White House said on Saturday.

“This deal means that TikTok will be majority-owned by Americans in the United States,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News Saturday morning. “There will be seven seats on the board that controls the app in the United States, and six of those seats will be Americans.”

Leavitt also said in the interview that the “algorithm will also be controlled by America as well,” but did not provide any further details.

An agreement between America and China over the Chinese-owned app’s content algorithm has been a key element of negotiations, as lawmakers increasingly grew concerned in the past several years that China could push anti-American propaganda through the app.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers passed a law in 2024 to ban the app, which the Supreme Court upheld in January. Trump has flouted that ban by issuing continuous extensions while negotiations over the ownership continue. Earlier this week, Trump further suspended any potential ban until Dec. 16 after his administration said a “framework” for a deal was reached.

China in recent weeks has indicated that it had no plans to hand over the algorithm for the app to America in a deal.

The White House on Friday indicated that a deal between Washington and Beijing to sell the Chinese-owned app to a U.S.-based owner was finalized, and only needed to be signed. But the two countries seem to be at odds on a proposed deal to force Chinese company ByteDance to sell the company following a call between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

In a post to Truth Social on Friday, Trump said he’d had “a very productive call” with Xi on multiple issues and “appreciate[s] the TikTok approval” — seemingly referring to a deal on the app.

But in its first read out after the call, the Chinese government made no reference to a deal, instead, reiterating its longheld position on allowing TikTok negotiations to continue.

Leavitt added that tech company Oracle — which is led by Larry Ellison, a prominent Trump ally — would be responsible for the app’s data and security.

“All of the details have already been agreed upon,” she said. “Now we just need this deal to be signed.”