When a company finds itself at the heart of high-stakes political debates in the U.S., its future often looks uncertain. TikTok, a prominent digital content platform owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, is currently facing intense political pressure to sell its business to a “qualified” competitor, likely one based in North America or Europe.
If ByteDance resists these demands, TikTok’s 170 million American users might need to find alternative sources of online entertainment. The app has already faced bans in India and Nepal.
Both major U.S. political parties have expressed significant concerns about TikTok, focusing on the potential misuse of user data and the platform’s ability to promote certain types of content, including politically relevant material.
While the broader philosophical and social implications of these political actions are complex and beyond the scope of this article, our focus here is more pragmatic: how does TikTok generate revenue? What has fueled its rise to prominence, and why is it considered a potential threat to democratic processes? Moreover, what can TikTok’s business model reveal about the online landscape as a whole?
