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The Conversation
The Conversation
Kelley Cotter, Assistant Professor of Information Sciences and Technology, Penn State

TikTok sale puts app’s algorithm in the spotlight – a social media expert explains how the For You Page works and what changes are in store

TikTok Donald Trump Xi Jinping ByteDance United States Meta
TikTok appears to be changing hands, but what that means for users is up in the air. Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump announced on Sept. 19, 2025, a preliminary agreement for the sale of a majority stake in TikTok from Chinese tech giant ByteDance to a group of U.S. investors following Trump’s negotiation with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The deal would create a new U.S.-only version of the app, bringing it into compliance with a law signed by former President Joe Biden on April 23, 2024, and upheld by the Supreme Court on Jan. 17, 2025. Specifics of the deal remain to be hammered out, and left unresolved is the fate of the video sharing app’s core algorithm – and what that means for TikTok’s millions of U.S. users.

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