Back in the summer of 2018, few could have predicted that a scrappy ByteDance app would become not just another video platform, but a full-blown cultural juggernaut—and a flashpoint in a brewing tech Cold War between Washington and Beijing. Today TikTok boasts more than 1.59 billion active users worldwide. What started as a short-form video feed for teens has morphed into a geopolitical bargaining chip, a national security headache, and a symbol of technological sovereignty. The fight over TikTok in America isn’t just about bans and buyouts; it’s about how technology itself has become the battlefield of the 21st century.
TikTok’s Global Reach: Numbers That Stagger
TikTok isn’t simply popular—it’s embedded in the fabric of daily life. The platform counts 1.12 billion active users, with more than 170 million in the United States alone. That’s over half the U.S. population. Usage is jaw-dropping: an average of 95 minutes a day worldwide, and 52 minutes stateside—more than Facebook, more than Instagram, more than anyone.
But TikTok is more than a scrolling habit. It’s a money-machine. In 2024 the app pulled in $10 billion in U.S. revenue and between $20 and $26 billion globally. For Gen Z, it’s the ultimate discovery tool: 77 percent use TikTok to find new products, 63 percent rely on it for news. Research shows TikTok is 150 percent more effective at nudging users to try something new than rival platforms. It’s an entertainment hub, a marketplace, and increasingly, an information ecosystem.
From Rocket Growth to Political Suspicion
TikTok’s rise was meteoric. Launched globally in 2016 as the successor to Musical.ly, it had 271 million monthly active users by 2018 and hit the billion-user mark in 2021. But with explosive growth came growing suspicion. Lawmakers in Washington and beyond began sounding alarms over TikTok’s ties to Beijing through its parent, ByteDance.
In 2020, as U.S.–China relations soured, President Trump moved to ban TikTok unless it was sold to an American company. He signed two executive orders giving ByteDance 90 days to divest its U.S. assets. The move was unprecedented, seen by some as protectionism, by others as the opening shot in a technological Cold War.
Court Fights and Political Gambits
The Biden administration reversed Trump’s executive orders but didn’t let up the pressure. In December 2022, Biden signed a law banning TikTok on federal devices. Then came the hammer: in April 2024, Congress passed legislation requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations by January 19, 2025, or face a total ban.
TikTok fought back, filing lawsuits alongside users who claimed the law trampled First Amendment rights. But in January 2025 the Supreme Court sided with the government, ruling that national security concerns outweighed corporate free speech, especially given TikTok’s foreign roots.
The ban took effect on January 19. Overnight TikTok vanished from American phones, App Store, and Google Play. But the blackout lasted less than a day. Hours after his inauguration, President Donald Trump signed an executive order delaying enforcement for 75 days. The same Trump who once went to war with TikTok now leaned on it—after all, the platform had become a megaphone in his 2024 campaign. He even acknowledged he wanted TikTok running to livestream his inauguration.
Deal-Making in Madrid
With lawsuits stalled and pressure mounting, Washington and Beijing pivoted to negotiations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced in Madrid that a framework deal had been struck to spin off TikTok’s U.S. operations. The breakthrough came after Beijing, under threat of a shutdown, reportedly dropped demands for tariff reductions in exchange for TikTok’s survival in America.
China confirmed the framework but warned no agreement would go forward if it hurt Chinese companies. Chief negotiator Li Chengang emphasized that Beijing would scrutinize every detail. Translation: this was far from a done deal.
The outline called for a new entity, TikTok Global, headquartered in the U.S. with a five-member board—four of them Americans. Oracle would take a 12.5 percent stake, Walmart 7.5 percent. ByteDance would technically keep 80 percent, but with 40 percent of ByteDance already owned by U.S. investors, the White House could claim that “most” of TikTok was now American-controlled.
The plan also required U.S. user data to be stored in Oracle-run servers under American law. No more fears of “foreign governments spying on American teenagers,” as the talking point goes. Within a year, TikTok Global would be pushed toward an IPO led by Walmart.
The result? A distinctly American solution to a deeply global problem: keep TikTok alive, but under U.S. management. Whether that satisfies Washington hawks—or Beijing hardliners—remains the question. What’s clear is that TikTok has gone from viral dance clips to the frontline of geopolitics, with billions of eyeballs hanging in the balance.
Potential Buyers and Their Stakes
The field of suitors circling TikTok is crowded and colorful.
- Oracle and Walmart are already baked into the deal, slated to take minority stakes in the new U.S.-based entity.
- Elon Musk has been floated as a possible bidder.
- MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson)—YouTube’s most-followed creator with 343 million subscribers—openly expressed interest in buying TikTok. Billionaire Frank McCourt, who’s lined up $20 billion for a bid, says MrBeast is part of his group.
- Frank McCourt, former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is pushing his Project Liberty vision for a decentralized internet. He frames his $20 billion offer as a way to “fix national security, fix the internet, and build a third-generation web where users are in control.”
- Steven Mnuchin, former Treasury Secretary, has also assembled an investor consortium.
Initially, Beijing signaled it would rather see TikTok banned in the U.S. than forced into a fire sale. But the looming loss of 170 million American users—and the billions of dollars at stake—appears to have nudged China toward compromise.
Geopolitics Meets Economics
The TikTok saga is about far more than corporate restructuring. It’s loaded with geopolitical weight.
First, it could mark a turning point in the years-long trade war between Washington and Beijing. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said outright that a TikTok deal might help ease tensions.
Second, it sets a precedent for other Chinese-owned companies operating in America. Analysts warn that gaming giants like Riot Games and Epic Games—both tied to Chinese tech behemoth Tencent—could be next under the microscope. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has already pressed those firms on their security protocols.
Third, the fight over TikTok underscores questions of technological sovereignty and data security. Washington fears Beijing could exploit the platform for surveillance or propaganda. Beijing, meanwhile, frames the U.S. push as naked protectionism, designed to hobble China’s tech champions.
Finally, there’s the money. Trump has insisted that the U.S. government should pocket a “significant sum” from the sale. Legal experts note that forcing a cut of a private transaction into federal coffers would set a troubling precedent in global markets—one that other governments might feel emboldened to copy.
International Echoes
TikTok isn’t the first tech company caught in the crossfire of national security politics. It’s part of a global trend.
- India temporarily banned TikTok in 2020.
- The European Union’s GDPR regime has forced American platforms to overhaul their data practices.
- China has long blocked Western platforms like Facebook and Google, building its own parallel ecosystem.
The World Trade Organization could get pulled in if the U.S. deal is judged to be a coercive sale that violates free-trade rules. Washington counters that national security concerns fall under Article XXI of the GATT, giving it legal cover.
The closest parallel is Washington’s embargo on Huawei, but TikTok is different. Its scale, its role in culture, and its influence over how information spreads make this fight unprecedented.
What Comes Next
The future of TikTok is anything but settled. Even if a deal closes, thorny questions remain.
- Will the new structure satisfy U.S. national security hawks?
- How will users respond if ownership changes lead to tweaks in content moderation?
- Could this spark a broader Balkanization of the internet along national lines?
Frank McCourt sees opportunity: a chance to build what he calls the “third generation of the internet,” powered by decentralized, blockchain-based infrastructure. If his bid succeeds, it could reshape not only TikTok but the entire social media landscape.
But failure is still very much on the table. If negotiations collapse, TikTok could face a U.S. ban after September 17—the deadline for the latest extension. That would cut off 170 million American users overnight, devastate creators who’ve built livelihoods on the app, and send shockwaves through the global digital economy.
In short, TikTok’s fate is no longer just about an app. It’s about whether the internet itself fractures into competing spheres—or remains the closest thing we have to a truly global commons.
The Battle for the Digital Soul
The fight over TikTok isn’t just about a video app. It’s a battle for the very soul of the global internet. It pits national security against globalization, free expression against data control, American power against China’s technological rise.
The outcome won’t just decide whether TikTok survives in the U.S. It will shape the way technology functions for decades to come. Will the internet remain open and borderless, or fracture into walled-off national zones? Can governments strike a balance between security and innovation? And most crucially—who ends up holding the keys to the data that define our digital identities?
The Madrid framework deal was just one step in a long, grinding process. U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer cautioned that the agreement still needs the blessing of both presidents. Beijing’s negotiator Li Chengang made it clear: China won’t compromise its principles or the interests of its companies.
One thing is certain: what started as a goofy app for dance clips has turned into a potent symbol of 21st-century geopolitics. The fate of TikTok will help determine not just the future of one platform, but the architecture of the digital world itself.