"In January, TikTok's U.S. operation was formally split from its global business and placed under a new joint venture in which Oracle holds a major stake, with the enterprise software giant now responsible for American user data and a U.S.-run version of TikTok's recommendation algorithm. The shift capped years of political pressure and delivered what backers framed as a national‑security victory, but on the ground, many young users saw something else: a beloved app becoming an instrument of corporate and political power."
"In late January, as TikTok's U.S. ownership shifted, the app suffered a widely discussed algorithm meltdown that flooded For You Pages with what users derided as "slop." The glitch hit at a moment when Gen Z was already questioning how recommendation systems distort reality, serve irrelevant life‑stage content, and turn every feed into an infinite scroll of lowest‑common‑denominator virality. The r/TikTok feed on Reddit featured an upvoted post that simply said, " R.I.P. TikTok, 2016-2026.""
TikTok's U.S. operation was split from its global business and placed under a new joint venture with Oracle taking a major stake and control of American user data and a U.S.-run recommendation algorithm. Many young users perceived the change as a transfer of corporate and political power and warned against feeding data to Oracle, alleging potential censorship of pro‑Palestinian speech. The ownership handover coincided with a visible algorithm meltdown that flooded For You Pages with irrelevant content, intensifying Gen Z skepticism about recommendation systems. A rival app, UpScrolled, launched quietly in 2025 and gained traction amid the unrest and algorithm failures.
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