The battle over TikTok in the U.S. has lasted as long as the globally popular app has been available. Since 2019, TikTok has negotiated with the federal government to address concerns of Chinese manipulation and data theft. President Donald Trump was initially for a ban, then against it and then for it again. Through it all, TikTok remained one of the only major social platforms that Silicon Valley, with its growing right-wing tilt, hasn’t completely absorbed. That independence is now at risk after the president laid the groundwork for a complex deal for the app that gifted his billionaire allies an unprecedented degree of control over U.S. media.

“It’s owned by Americans, and very sophisticated Americans,” Trump said as he signed an executive order allowing a consortium of investors to h

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