According to reporting by Reuters, the United States and China have announced a framework agreement that could see TikTok’s American operations transferred to US-controlled ownership, but major hurdles remain. Revealed during trade talks in Madrid, the proposed deal must navigate a 2024 US law that forces ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a ban, a rule passed over concerns that the Chinese government could access American user data or influence content on the platform.

Critical questions remain unresolved. China previously blocked the export of TikTok’s recommendation algorithm—its most valuable asset and the engine of its global cultural dominance—and may resist allowing its transfer. US lawmakers will also scrutinise whether any American buyers are sufficiently cut off from Chinese ties. Even if approved, the deal could fracture TikTok into a US-only platform with a separate governance structure, leaving its future global integration uncertain.

BTB So What?

The latest developments mark a pivotal moment for TikTok to define its future, especially as rivals are no longer standing still. The platform’s dominance has long relied on a sense of inevitability: the belief that if you wanted reach, you had to be on TikTok. But the longer its US fate hangs in limbo, the more that certainty erodes for creators and brands alike. When TikTok briefly went dark in the US earlier this year, Xiaohongshu (RED) gained nearly three million US users in the span of 12 hours, and advertisers began shifting spend to Shorts and Reels as Chinese platforms openly signalled global ambitions. That response suggests the market is ready to move on if TikTok falters. What once looked like an unassailable cultural superpower now may find itself a platform caught in a holding pattern, and in the attention economy, even short pauses can be costly.