It may be time to abandon TikTok — because it’s about to become a state-sanctioned surveillance tool.
Donald Trump’s push to force a U.S. takeover of the app has attracted a familiar cast of beneficiaries, none more prominent than Oracle founder Larry Ellison. Ellison, the world’s second-richest man and Netanyahu confidant, has made no secret of his enthusiasm for a world under constant AI monitoring. “Citizens will be on their best behavior,” he once assured investors, “because we are constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on.” George Orwell might have called it satire. Ellison calls it strategy.
If applied to TikTok, this vision means more than algorithm tweaks. It means a political filter dressed up as “community guidelines.” Posts critical of Trump, his policies, or his allies could vanish without explanation. Creators who highlight systemic racism, American history, or U.S. foreign policy — voices like Lynae Vanee, Taylor Cassidy, Nick Courmon, and Kahlil Greene — risk being quietly erased under the guise of fighting “anti-American” discourse.
The irony is an app once derided as a frivolous time-waster may soon serve as a carefully monitored megaphone for state-approved speech. Free expression would survive only in the narrow band that flatters power. Everyone else will find their words caught in the net of an algorithm designed not to protect users, but to protect those in charge.
The First Amendment still promises the right to criticize the government. Soon, the only thing trending will be silence.