After years of political chest-thumping about the dangers of China-owned TikTok and more deadlines for its ban than a college term paper, the U.S. and China have finally announced a TikTok deal. Sort of. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called it a “framework” that would put TikTok under U.S. control, with all the right buzzwords about national security sprinkled in.
Sounds reassuring – until you realize no one’s actually explaining what just happened – or who is going to own the social media company.
We’re told TikTok will shift away from Chinese ownership, that algorithms and data safeguards were discussed, and that a Trump–Xi meeting of some sort is scheduled to make it all official.
But the details? Locked away tighter than Area 51’s guest list. No one will say who the new owners are, what ByteDance is still getting, or whether Americans’ data is any safer today than it was yesterday.
So yes, the TikTok saga has reached its “conclusion.” Only problem? It looks a lot like the cliffhanger season finale of a show that forgot to film the last scene.