TikTok is now majority owned by non-Chinese stakeholders and has an American majority board — and it’s time for them to prove their chops to parents by offering more transparency and stronger protections for minors.

The app is a mainstay of American teen life, but how it works and who controls it still feels like a mystery. TikTok’s new stakeholders — Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX now own 15% each, while Chinese Bytedance retains just 19.9% of the company — should demand that kids are protected from ultra-personalized algorithms and that their accounts be kept under lock and key.

The stakes are high. Two hundred million Americans are on TikTok, according to the company, and 63% of American teens used the platform as of 2024.

First and foremost, teens should not have ultra-personalized algorithms in their For You Page. It’s so easy to fall down a rabbit hole on social media based on just a little browsing of political posts or dieting content. Next thing you know, you’re consumed by extremist ideology or constantly obsessing about your weight.

When you’re under 18, you’re still figuring out who you are and what you believe. The last thing you need is constant reinforcement of........

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