Everything you need to know, explained simply
The Quick Version
On January 22, 2026, TikTok in the United States got new owners. American investors now control the U.S. version of the app, while the Chinese company ByteDance (which created TikTok) keeps a small piece. For Canadians, not much changed immediately, but it’s creating two different versions of TikTok in North America—and that could matter down the road.
Let’s break down what actually happened and why you should care.
So… Who Owns TikTok Now?
Good question! It’s actually a group of big American companies and investors:
Oracle (15%): The huge tech company that stores data for tons of businesses. They’re now in charge of keeping American TikTok user data secure.
Silver Lake (15%): A major private equity firm focused on technology investments.
MGX (15%): An Abu Dhabi-based state investment firm that was part of the deal.
A bunch of other investors (35%): This includes affiliates of existing ByteDance investors and other investment groups. Reports suggest Michael Dell’s family office may be among them, though specific details on all investors haven’t been fully disclosed.
ByteDance still has 19.9%: The Chinese company that created TikTok keeps a small stake—just under 20%, which is the maximum they’re allowed to keep to comply with U.S. law.
Think of it like this: TikTok used to be fully owned by a Chinese company. Now in America, it’s mostly owned by American companies, with the Chinese company keeping one foot in the door.
Why Did This Happen?
This whole saga started back in 2020 during Trump’s first presidency. The U.S. government got worried about two main things:
Worry #1: Your Personal Data
TikTok knows a LOT about you. Where you live, what you watch, who you talk to, what you search for, even your face (from those fun filters). All that information was being stored by a Chinese company.
Here’s the problem: Chinese law says companies have to hand over data to the government if they ask for it. So theoretically, the Chinese government could demand to see everything TikTok knows about millions of Americans (and Canadians). That made U.S. security folks very nervous.
Worry #2: The Algorithm
You know how TikTok seems to read your mind? That’s the algorithm—it decides what videos you see. It’s scary good at keeping you scrolling.
The worry was: what if China told TikTok to show Americans certain videos to influence their opinions? Like pushing divisive political content or making people think certain ways? With 200 million American users, that’s a powerful tool.
ByteDance and China both said “we would never do that!” But the U.S. government wasn’t convinced.
The Legal Showdown
After years of back and forth, in April 2024, Congress passed a law with strong support from both Democrats and Republicans. The message was simple: ByteDance, you have until January 19, 2025 to sell TikTok to American owners, or we’re banning it completely.
TikTok fought back in court, saying this violated free speech rights. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, and TikTok lost.
On the night of January 18, 2025—the eve of the ban deadline—TikTok voluntarily went dark in the U.S. for several hours. Millions of users panicked. The service was restored within about a day after Trump (who had just been elected but wasn’t president yet) indicated he’d give TikTok more time once he took office.
Trump’s Plot Twist
Here’s the wild part: Trump started this whole thing in 2020, trying to force TikTok to sell. But by 2024, he completely changed his mind.
Why? He said TikTok helped him win the 2024 election by reaching young voters. So when he became president again in January 2025, he kept delaying the ban to give ByteDance time to work out a deal. He even helped negotiate with China’s President Xi Jinping to make it happen.
After the deal closed, Trump posted: “I am so happy to have helped in saving TikTok! It will now be owned by a group of Great American Patriots and Investors, the Biggest in the World.”
The irony isn’t lost on anyone.
But Wait—What About the Algorithm?
This is where things get complicated. The law said TikTok had to hand over the algorithm to the American owners. But here’s what actually happened:
ByteDance still OWNS the algorithm. They’re just “licensing” it to the American company, like renting it out. Oracle (one of the new owners) gets to retrain it using only American user data and run it themselves. The idea is that China can’t mess with what Americans see.
But some people aren’t convinced this really solves the problem, since ByteDance technically still controls the core technology.
What Changed for Americans?
If you’re in the U.S., you probably didn’t notice anything different when you opened TikTok. Same videos, same features, same addictive scrolling.
But behind the scenes:
• U.S. TikTok user data is now stored by Oracle in secure American servers
• ByteDance supposedly can’t access American user information anymore
• The algorithm is being retrained on American user behavior only
• American companies control content moderation decisions
Over time, the American version of TikTok might start showing different content than the international version, as the algorithm learns from different users.
So What Does This Mean for Canadians?
Here’s the thing: Canada has its own TikTok drama happening at the same time.
Canada’s TikTok Troubles
In November 2024, Canada’s government ordered TikTok to shut down its business offices in Toronto and Vancouver because of national security risks. But weirdly, they DIDN’T ban the app itself.
So TikTok’s Canadian employees were going to lose their jobs, and the company would stop investing in Canadian creators… but Canadian users (TikTok’s advertising data shows over 16 million users aged 18+) could keep using the app normally. As one expert put it, this was a “true lose-lose-lose” that didn’t actually fix the security problems.
The Plot Twist: Canada Changes Course
On January 21, 2026—literally one day before the U.S. deal closed—a Canadian court overturned the government’s shutdown order. The judge sent it back to the government to reconsider.
Timing suspicious? Maybe. Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney has been trying to improve relations with China (to counterbalance Trump’s tariff threats). When the U.S. didn’t end up banning TikTok after all, Canada’s harder stance looked out of step.
So for now, TikTok’s Canadian offices are safe, and millions of Canadian users can keep scrolling in peace.
The Big Difference: Two TikToks in North America
Here’s what matters for Canadians: you’re now using a DIFFERENT version of TikTok than Americans.
Americans get:
• The new American-controlled version
• TikTok data stored by Oracle on U.S. servers
• Algorithm trained only on American users
• Supposedly better protection from Chinese government access
Canadians get:
• The international version still mostly controlled by ByteDance
• Data stored internationally (not in Oracle’s secure U.S. system)
• Same algorithm as the rest of the world (outside the U.S.)
• Same security setup as before
What This Actually Means for You
In the short term: Not much. Your TikTok works exactly the same today as it did last month. Same videos, same features, same everything.
But over time, here’s what could happen:
1. Different trending content: As the American algorithm learns from American users only, Canadians might start seeing different trends, different viral videos, and different recommended content than our American friends.
2. Security concerns remain: All those worries about Chinese government access to your data? Still there for Canadian users. You don’t get the same protections Americans now have.
3. Creator reach might change: If you’re a Canadian creator who gets a lot of views from Americans, that might get harder as the algorithms become separate. TikTok says they’ll maintain “interoperability” so creators can still reach international audiences, but we’ll see how well that works.
4. Privacy stays the same: Your data is still stored internationally under the international version’s rules, not in Oracle’s secure U.S. system. No upgrade to the supposedly more secure American protections.
5. Political uncertainty: While the court overturned the shutdown order, it told the government to reconsider. So Canada’s position on TikTok could still change, especially with trade talks with the U.S. coming up.
Should You Be Worried?
That depends on what you care about:
If you’re worried about privacy: The concerns that freaked out the U.S. government still apply to Canadian users. TikTok collects a ton of data, and that data could theoretically be accessed by the Chinese government. That hasn’t changed for us.
If you’re a casual user: You probably won’t notice anything different for a while. Keep scrolling.
If you’re a creator or business: Pay attention to how this affects your reach to American audiences. You might want to diversify to other platforms just in case things change more dramatically.
What Might Happen Next?
Nobody knows for sure, but here are the possibilities:
Option 1: Status quo. Canada decides the current setup is fine and leaves things alone. Canadians keep using the international version.
Option 2: Canada copies the U.S. Canada negotiates its own deal where TikTok creates a Canadian-controlled version with data stored here. This seems unlikely because Canada’s market is much smaller.
Option 3: New regulations. Canada puts stricter rules on TikTok about data protection and transparency, but doesn’t force a sale.
Option 4: Trade pressure. During upcoming trade negotiations, the U.S. might pressure Canada to align its TikTok policies with American ones.
The Bottom Line
TikTok in America is now mostly owned by Americans. TikTok in Canada is still mostly owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. This creates two different versions of the app in North America for the first time.
For now, nothing changes in your day-to-day TikTok experience. But over the next months and years, the American and Canadian versions will likely drift apart as they operate under different ownership, different algorithms, and different data protection systems.
The security concerns that drove the U.S. to force this sale still exist for Canadian users. Your data is still stored internationally, still potentially accessible to the Chinese government under Chinese law, and still subject to the same algorithmic control as before.
Whether you should care depends on how much you worry about those things. But at minimum, it’s worth knowing that you and your American friends are now using genuinely different versions of what was once the same app.
Welcome to the new era of fragmented social media, where even scrolling through short videos gets caught up in international politics.
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