Trouble at TikTok - Today, Explained Recap

Podcast: Today, Explained

Published: 2026-02-04

Duration: 26 minutes

Guests: David Pierce

Summary

The episode dives into the challenges faced by TikTok after its acquisition by American investors, including censorship claims, outages, and potential algorithm changes.

What Happened

TikTok in the US has experienced significant changes under its new ownership, which consists of American investors compelled by lawmakers to address data and privacy concerns linked to its previous Chinese ownership. Users have reported censorship issues, such as videos not uploading properly or terms being flagged, like the word 'Epstein.' However, these issues may be more about technical glitches than intentional censorship, as a major data center outage in Virginia has been cited as a cause.

Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California, has shown political interest in investigating these censorship claims, particularly around the DM censorship of the word 'Epstein.' However, the problems surrounding this term have reportedly been resolved. The new ownership includes Oracle, MGX, and Silverlake, with Oracle playing a crucial role due to its involvement in handling the algorithm, privacy, and data security.

The episode draws parallels between TikTok's situation and Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, noting that Musk was transparent about the changes he intended to implement. This transparency has not been mirrored in TikTok's case, causing users to speculate about hidden censorship motives.

The new ownership structure, particularly Oracle's involvement, has led to concerns about how TikTok's algorithm might be adjusted. Oracle is responsible for maintaining data security, a primary concern that led to the change in ownership. There is skepticism about whether the new ownership will lead to political bias in content distribution.

The terms of service have sparked controversy as they now allow the collection of more precise data, raising privacy concerns. However, much of this data collection policy has been in place before and was simply not widely known or understood by users.

Despite the business side alterations, the typical user experience on the app, like viewing cooking or horse hoof cleaning videos, is not expected to change immediately. However, the algorithm is set to undergo retraining, which could alter how content is presented to users in the future.

Key Insights