TikTok is finally American. Not great, not terrible

What is the price of a quick dopamine fix?

TikTok may now collect even more data than it did under Chinese ownership. This excessive data collection will lead to more personalized and targeted advertising, and may pose serious consequences for already vulnerable communities in the US.

• What does the dosimeter say?
• 3.6 roentgen, but that’s as high as the meter…
• 3.6 – not great, not terrible.

This now-iconic line comes from the 2019 HBO miniseries Chernobyl, meaning that things are bad, but we simply don't have the right tools to measure just how bad they might become.

In 2020, then-US President Donald J. Trump signed the first executive order mandating TikTok's ownership change as a matter of national security. Here’s what it reads:

“TikTok automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users, including internet and other network activity information such as location data and browsing and search histories. This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information – potentially allowing China to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage.”

As of January 23rd, 2026, US TikTok users’ data is in the hands of TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, which is owned by a group of investors, including Oracle.

TikTok will now collect even more user data, leading to even more personalized ads. But that is simply the face of modern-day capitalism, where technologies help legitimate businesses, scammers, and profiteers alike get into our pockets more easily.

More worrying is that extensive data collection practices by TikTok will endanger already vulnerable social groups, such as immigrants and LGBTQ+ people.

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Privacy advocates warn that governments might even be using TikTok to identify women who have had miscarriages, as thirteen US states have a total abortion ban.

TikTok now allows regulatory authorities like the now infamous Immigration Enforcement Agency (ICE) to request user information (IP addresses, direct message content, and payment information) under relaxed user notification rules.

TikTok has had a rough start already. As our senior journalist Gintaras Radauskas aptly pointed out, many are speculating that the new owners, all friendly to Trump, were intentionally suppressing videos that criticize the US president and, specifically, deadly federal immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis.

Claims that are hard to prove or deny are often dismissed as conspiracy theories. However, ample evidence suggests that we are better off not building extensive profiles on social media and mindlessly scrolling through feeds in search of a quick dopamine fix.

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