Category: SOCIAL MEDIA

Snapchat has shared some new stats on its efforts to block drug-related content, with a particular focus on fentanyl, as part of “National Fentanyl Awareness Day” in the U.S.

Fentanyl use has become a major issue in America, with the CDC reporting that synthetic opioids (like fentanyl) are now the primary driver of overdose deaths in the nation.

It’s also a big focus for Snap in particular, given various reports linking Snapchat to illegal drug dealing, due to its popularity among younger users.

And it is taking action to address such.

As explained by Snap:

“At Snap, the safety of our community is paramount. We are deeply committed to removing content associated with the spread of illicit pills and powders that may be laced with fentanyl, and proactively educating the Snapchat community about the dangers of fentanyl.” 

Snap’s ephemeral messaging is another element that could benefit illegal drug trading, and as noted, various anecdotal reports have traced the app as a key source in various drug-related cases.

Snap, however, doesn’t have to share data on such, with the usage of its platform protected by Section 230, which means that the platforms themselves cannot be held legally responsible for how individuals use the app. And with Snap also focused on user privacy, there’s no definitive evidence that links Snap more specifically to the drug trade.

But either way, Snap has implemented a range of detection processes and tools to help catch out illegal activity.

According to Snapchat, in 2024 it:

• Removed more than 2.4 million pieces of drug-related content
• Disabled 516,000 accounts due to drug-related content violations, and took further steps to block the devices associated with those accounts from using Snapchat.
• Detected more than 90% of the overall illicit drug activity in the app proactively, enabling Snap’s team to remove such before user exposure/report.

For context, in Q4 2024, Facebook also removed 2.4 million posts related to drugs. In a single quarter, so on balance, Meta’s actioning a lot more of the same, though Facebook’s usage is about 4x Snapchat (in terms of daily active users), so they’re relatively on par in comparative enforcement.

The data, then, shows that Snap is undertaking significant efforts to combat drug-dealing in the app, despite working with fewer resources, while Snap also notes that it’s also working with law enforcement groups and drug prevention organizations in order to share insights and coordinate efforts.

Though it’s an evolving battle, which will never truly be won. Drug dealers change their terminology to avoid detection, and change accounts, profiles, devices, there’s a range of ways that people can use Snap, or other social apps, for illicit purpose.

Which is why it’s important for the platforms to maintain their focus, and to continue to evolve their processes in line with these shifts.

Are you finding different ways to use the latest generative AI tools?

Over time, more and more people are interacting with bots like ChatGPT for varying purpose, with many now turning to these tools for therapy, life organization, and companionship.

Which seems like a concern, right? I mean, we don’t yet understand the risks of building such reliance on computer systems, which are trained on posts submitted to the internet.

Are they good at helping to diagnose mental health concerns? Are they guiding people in helpful ways?

And if these systems do become our companions, what does that mean for actual human relationships?

Within this context, this overview of how AI use is evolving over time is an interesting snapshot of the current state.

You can check out the full report on the Visual Capitalist blog.

Meta’s rolling out some new updates for its Ray Ban Meta smart glasses, including expanded live language translation, the ability to send IG messages, conversational AI, and more.

First off, Meta’s giving more wearers access to its live translation feature, which enables you to hear a responsive translation of spoken language in your ear.

As explained by Meta:

“Whether you’re traveling to a new country and need to ask for directions to the train station or you’re spending quality time with a family member and need to break the language barrier, you can hold seamless conversations across English, French, Italian, and Spanish – no Wi-Fi or network connectivity required if you’ve downloaded the language pack in advance.”

Meta first launched live translation in its Ray Ban glasses last December, and it’s now making the option available to all users.

And it could be a particularly handy, whether you want to hold a conversation with a friend, or just listen in on what’s being said in another language in a certain setting. Translation accuracy will, of course, vary based on outside distractions, but Meta’s clearly confident that the results it produces are good enough to warrant an expanded launch of the function.

Meta’s also adding IG DM functionality into its glasses, with users able to receive DMs, audio calls, and video calls from Instagram within the device. You’ll also be able to share photos to the app.

“This joins being able to make calls and send messages through WhatsApp and Messenger, as well as the native messaging app on your iPhone or Android phone. No matter where your crew communicates, you can stay plugged in and connected effortlessly. Just say, ‘Hey Meta, send a message to Lisa on Instagram.’”

Meta’s also expanding access to its music integrations, with Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and Shazam all set to soon be made available to Meta Ray Ban users outside the U.S. and Canada.

It’s also broadening access to its Meta AI features to EU audiences.

Meta added Meta AI access to the glasses late last year, but EU restrictions on AI usage have limited its rollout. But now, Meta is making inroads on this front, which will enable it to bring more AI features to EU users.

Finally, Meta’s also building on its Live AI functionality, which enables you to conduct a conversation with Meta’s AI chatbot as you go about your day-to-day life. The system is able to “see” what you see through your glasses, and Meta’s also making it more conversational in application.

“In the middle of cooking dinner and you don’t have as much butter as you thought? Ask Meta AI to see if there’s a substitute based on what it sees in your pantry or refrigerator. And follow it up by asking which wine in your rack pairs best with the meal. You can speak as you normally would without needing to say ‘Hey, Meta’ each time, and Meta AI will respond in kind for a smooth, natural experience. Just say, ‘Hey Meta, start live AI’ to begin.”

So now, you can take your friendship with AI to the next level, by bringing your bot with you everywhere you go. Just like that movie “Her,” and that ended fine, right?

Associative concerns aside, Meta’s Ray Ban glasses have been gaining momentum, with over a million pairs sold last year. Added functionality like live translation and AI chats have helped to make the device a more viable, functional option, and an increasing number of people are now considering an upgrade for their next subscription frames.

Meta’s also planning to launch additional versions of the glasses for alternate purpose, while it’s also working on its fully AR-enabled glasses, which are scheduled for release in 2027.

And if Meta can maintain that momentum, it could be a valuable area of opportunity.

I mean, Zuckerberg himself says that glasses will eventually overtake phones as the key connective device, and as such, you can expect to see a lot more updates coming.

Snapchat has shared an update on its efforts to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, as part of its participation in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s “Know2Protect” program, which aims to raise public awareness about the risks of child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) online.

Launched in April last year, Know2Protect aims to help younger audiences understand the risks and dangers of online connection, and the support systems available to them to both take action on and to report such incidents.

Snap was a founding participant in the program, and over the past year, it’s worked with the Know2Protect team to implement more awareness and assistance features in the app, while also conducting awareness pushes with users.

And now, Snap’s conducted new research to see whether its efforts are having an effect.

According to Snap’s research (conducted via polls on Snap):

• 24% of teens said they had shared intimate imagery, unchanged from last year, while 33% reported having been groomed online, a slight reduction in incidence.
• 35% of study participants indicated they had been catfished, which is down one percentage point year-over-year.
• Among those who shared intimate imagery, more than 55% said that they had been deceived about a person’s identity. Concerns about catfishing have increased by four percentage points compared to a year ago
• 50% of those who admitted to having shared intimate imagery said that they lost control of the material once it was released. “This was even more significant for teens, where nearly two-thirds of respondents (63%) said they lost control of their photos and videos – a 13-point jump since the last round of research in October 2024, and 20 percentage points higher than the 18-to-24-year-olds.”
• 61% of respondents shared intimate images with people they knew or met online only. 

These are some concerning data points, which highlight the scope of the challenge that both Snap and the Know2Protect project are aiming to address.

And while the numbers themselves remain a significant concern, Snap also reports that awareness of the Know2Protect project is increasing.

“Nearly three in 10 (28%) who had heard of Know2Protect demonstrated familiarity with the campaign, a 17-point jump since October 2024. In addition, almost half (46%) of those who reported being aware of Know2Protect were able to describe campaign elements in an open-ended question format, as compared to one-third six months ago. Encouragingly, nearly nine in 10 (89%) said the campaign caused them to seek out more information about online safety, a 12-point pop since October 2024.”

That suggests that the project is having an impact in helping youngsters become more aware of the risks and dangers associated with online interaction, and the assistance and support resources available.

Snap also notes that it’s implementing more of its own protective measures, like PhotoDNA, which uses Google’s CSAI Match to find and remove duplicates of known illegal images and videos.

It’s also added more in-app warnings to alert teens and young people about possible suspect friend requests, and it regularly adds functionality to its Family Center suite of parental tools.

This is a key area of concern, and while the data hasn’t changed much since the implementation of the Know2Protect program, there are some indicators that it’s slowly gaining traction, while Snap’s own detection and enforcement processes continue to evolve.

So while the data here is pretty bleak, and the improvement of AI deepfakes is going to complicate things further, this remains a critical element of focus, especially for Snap, which is hugely popular among younger audiences.   

As you’re no doubt aware, Meta is defending itself against an FTC antitrust case at the moment, which has seen Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg face several days of questioning in a federal court, in regards to the company’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, and is motivations in buying up potentially competing apps.

And most of what’s been shared is information we already knew: Meta purchased Instagram because it saw opportunity to expand the app; Meta tried to acquire Snapchat back in 2013 (and again in 2016); TikTok has emerged as a serious threat to Meta’s overall business.

All of this is stuff that’s been discussed publicly for some time, and overall, it’s difficult to see how the FTC will be able to make the case that Meta has a monopoly over the social media and broader digital marketing space, given the business scope of key competitors.

But there have also been some points of note shared which do relate to broader trends, and understanding how Meta’s business is traveling.

For example, Zuckerberg has admitted that Facebook is losing out to other apps in terms of time spent.

As reported by The Information:

“Facebook’s and Instagram’s share of the amount of time people spend on social media apps has “gone down meaningfully,” Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified on Wednesday, saying that “a lot of the interaction” people have directly with their friends has shifted to messaging apps.”

The latter part here is nothing new, as we’ve covered the broader shift to messaging pretty extensively.

But the admission that time spent on Facebook and IG is in decline is a significant note, on an element that Meta has generally avoided discussing.

Back in the day, Meta used to regularly share updates on the amount of time users were spending in its apps, reporting, for example, in 2016 that users were spending more than 50 minutes per day, on average, using Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. 

But after that update, Meta stopped reporting these figures. Which likely suggests that the amount of time spent in its apps hasn’t increased significantly ever since.

That doesn’t mean that Facebook or IG aren’t popular, as both have billions of users, but over time, anecdotally, and based on external research, the indicators suggest that people are spending a lot less time in each app, while TikTok usage continues to rise.

According to a report published earlier this year by Guggenheim Partners, using data from Apptoptia, American TikTok users now spend an average of 108 minutes per day in the app, while Facebook users are active for 63 minutes per day on average. On Instagram, that’s down to 48 minutes.

The figures here still seem high, based on the amount of users these apps have, with the average spread across people who only log in to check on people’s birthdays, and those who scroll endlessly through the app. But as a comparative measure, this data suggests that people are now spending almost twice as much time scrolling on TikTok as they are on Facebook.

And that’s after Facebook saw increases in usage over the past couple of years, as it’s injected more and more AI-recommended Reels into user feeds.  

Meta hasn’t shared any specific numbers, but it is interesting to note Zuckerberg’s statement here, that both apps have seen “meaningful” reductions in overall engagement.

Another point of note from Zuckerberg’s testimony is that he once suggested that they could erase all users’ social graphs in order to reinvigorate Facebook engagement.

Which actually makes some sense. Over time, people’s social graphs have become so cluttered, because they’ve followed every brand page, every fan profile, they’ve accepted friend requests from everybody that they went to school with or worked with, whether they’re interested in hearing about them or not.

A refresh could actually improve the relevance of your notifications, and the platform’s algorithms, which would make it an even more engaging experience moving forward.

Meta obviously didn’t go with this idea, but with Zuckerberg talking about getting back to “OG Facebook” of late, I wonder if this might be something worth revisiting.

As noted, the FTC versus Meta case is currently being heard in federal court, and could go on for up to two months. And right now, based on publicly shared evidence, it seems unlikely that the outcome will end up going against Meta, and forcing it to sell off IG and WhatsApp.

LinkedIn has become a much bigger focus for many brands over the past year, with the changes at Twitter/X fracturing the professional social media landscape.

Indeed, LinkedIn has reported increases in engagement across the board, with video, in particular, getting more attention in the app.

And if you’re looking to put more emphasis on LinkedIn, then these new insights from Socialinsider might help. The team from Socialinsider conducted an analysis of a million LinkedIn posts, collected from 9,000 LinkedIn company pages, to get the latest data on average performance benchmarks, top-performing post types, follower growth rates, and more.

You can check out the full report here, but in this post, we’ll take a look at the key notes.

First off, the data shows that carousel posts generate the most engagement, on average, in the app.

As you can see in this chart, according to Socialinsider’s analysis, carousel posts and document attachments generate the most engagement, followed by video posts.

Though that does conflict with what LinkedIn itself has reported. LinkedIn recently shared that video content generates 1.4x more engagement than other formats, and that’s based on all of the performance data, versus this more limited sample. But that would also include personal pages. Socialinsider’s data pool only includes company pages, which could be a relevant consideration here.

The data also reinforces similar findings from Metricool, which also found that video and carousel posts generate the most engagement.

LinkedIn also found that carousel posts generate the most likes:

While polls drive the most impressions:

So if you want to maximize your LinkedIn performance, carousels, document posts and videos should be on your agenda.

Of course, this is also relative to what you post, and the relevance of each update to your audience, it’s not as simple as posting these types of updates and watching the likes roll in. But in alignment with your broader content strategy, these are the formats that are most likely to resonate with the LinkedIn audience, and help you maximize your efforts.

Socialinsider also notes that smaller pages are seeing significant follower growth, while image and link posts remain the most common company page post type.

I would imagine that image posts have become more popular over the past year, after LinkedIn made a change to its link preview format, which now means that organic posts in the app get a much smaller preview image, while promoted posts get the full-width image.

The larger image stands out in-feed, and some company pages have reverted to posting an image post, with the link in the first comment. There’s no clear best practice approach on this, in terms of relative performance, but I would hazard a guess that this is why image posts are on the rise.

There are more insights in Socialinsider’s full report, which provides more in-depth analysis of each aspect.

You can check out the full report here.

With Reels continuing to drive engagement in Meta’s apps, it’s worth considering how you can utilize Reels in your marketing strategy to help grab attention and build your brand on Facebook and IG.

This could help.

Later this month, Meta’s running an info session on how to make the most of Reels, which will feature various Meta product leaders and content experts, who’ll share the latest trend insights and technical tips.

The webinar will provide insights on advanced Reels strategies to maximize your content performance, as well as interviews with industry leaders, who’ll share how they use Reels in their approach.

Some of the topics in the agenda include:

• “Deconstructing Reels: Creative Elements that matter for performance”
• “What good looks like: Case studies from leading Reels advertisers”
• “Reels as part of creative diversification”

There’ll also be a Q and A session with Meta Product Marketing Manager Thore Ladicke, who’s in works on both Reels and creator marketing (and also has a cool name).

It could be worth your time, particularly given that Reels are now the fastest-growing content type on Facebook and IG, driving more than 200 billion views each day. And with 50% of Instagram feed content coming via Meta’s AI recommendations, the majority of which are Reels posts, it’s clearly a critical engagement focus for Zuck and Co.  

As such, knowing and understanding the latest best practices could help you get the most out of your content efforts, and this webinar could provide you with some valuable notes and pointers in this respect.

You can learn more about Meta’s Reels webinar, and register to attend, here.

Looking to grow your IG following in 2025?

This might help.

Last week, podcaster Brock Johnson spoke with Instagram chief Adam Mosseri about the latest platform updates, the algorithm, usage trends, and more, as he sought to provide some answers to the most common questions posed by IG creators.

And Mosseri provided some interesting notes. Nothing groundbreaking, and mostly the type of insight and advice that Mosseri has shared before. But some interesting points nonetheless.

First off, Mosseri discussed Instagram usage trends, and the shift to AI-recommended content in the main feed.

As per Mosseri:

“If you look at how people share on Instagram, creators aside, there are more photos and videos not including text shared in DMs than there are in Stories every day, and there are way more photos and videos shared into Stories than into feed every day. So yes, feed is for average folk to share photos or videos that they’re really proud of, but it’s a very small percentage of average folk who actually post to feed on a given day, whereas for creators, it’s much higher, so it’s becoming much more of a public domain, whereas stories and DMs are much more about where your friends are.”

So as Mosseri has noted in the past, the main feed is now not being used by regular users anywhere near as much, which is why Instagram is leaning on recommended content, in order to keep the main feed relevant.

And Mosseri also notes that creators now get more reach in the main feed:

“Stories are awesome, but your average creator reaches way more people in feed. Recommendations was a way to maintain and grow feed as an important part of Instagram, and we try to do so in a way where it would help people discover creators and other accounts that they would love, but might not even know existed. So you’ve seen that play out, and I’ve pushed really hard to make sure people could see the difference between their “connected” and “unconnected” reach.”

Usage trends have essentially deprioritized the main feed for more users, but for creators, it remains a key tool for getting more reach to more users. But for direct engagement among regular users who are communicating with each other, Stories and DMs now see far more activity.

Mosseri also discussed algorithm changes, and how often they occur:

“Small changes go out every day. It’s very rare that there’s a massive change in how we do something, it’s much more common that we’re just trying to get a little bit better one day at a time [and] if you see a huge swing in what’s going on, it probably isn’t that there was a huge change in how we rank content, it’s probably more that there was a huge change in the world. [For example] it might be Mother’s Day and everybody’s posting pictures of their moms [or] if you have predominantly young people who follow you, and schools out, you see time spent on social media is going to grow on the holidays, same thing if people are off work, they’re going to spend more time online, so if there’s a big swing on a given day, it’s probably more likely the world changed.”

Bit of a patronizing explanation to justify reach swings, that you need to be aware that other things are going on, but Mosseri’s point is that IG doesn’t update its algorithm in a major way that often. So if your reach drops, that’s probably not the reason.

Mosseri also discussed Instagram’s efforts to improve exposure for creators and content on Google and other search engines, as well as improving your content search options on Instagram itself. Mosseri says that the technology that IG uses to analyze content, including video and captions, is getting much better, and will drive better results in the near future. Which is interesting, because TikTok’s visual recognition tools are clearly a lot better than Instagram’s on this front, which is arguably why TikTok’s algorithm is so much more addictive.

Maybe, IG will eventually be able to better compete in this respect.

Speaking of TikTok, He also shared this interesting comparison between the two apps:

“We’re not trying to optimize for time. This is a common misconception, [that] platforms just want you to spend more time, [but] that’s not quite the case for us. I think if you look at Netflix, from what I can tell, they optimize for time, YouTube time, TikTok time, plus some other things around originality and breaking content. We are a place to be entertained [and] to entertain yourself, and find stuff to explore your interests, but we’re also a place to connect with your friends. And if we just optimize for time, what would happen is you would just show longer and longer, and more and more videos, but then for every five minute video you watch, that’s maybe 50 things you didn’t see from other other people, including your friends, so we’re much more in the short video focus.”

So Mosseri’s trying to suggest that the social aspects of IG are much more of a lure than they are on TikTok, and as such, it’s trying to show you more things that you’ll be interested in based on friends and such, as opposed to just keeping you glued to the app.

I don’t know that this is true, as Instagram would love to have the addictiveness of TikTok, but it’s interesting that Mosseri’s trying to separate the two apps by suggesting that friend connection is an equally relevant focus.

I mean, the fact that 50% of the content displayed in your main feed is from accounts you don’t follow belies that (though as Mosseri notes, that was a necessary change), but it’s also inarguable that friend connection is a more significant consideration on IG than TikTok.

I don’t think it’s a key differentiator, but it’s interesting framing either way.

Mosseri also commented on the suggestion that being more active when you’re posting in the app can drive more reach, noting that it could have an impact, in that if you’re engaging with people at the same time as you share your latest update, that may drive more people to your profile in response to your outreach, but there is no direct correlation in its system.

Mosseri also explained “shadowbans,” noting that IG does penalize some content, but it lets creators know about those penalties as much as possible, except in extreme cases. As such, this is not a shadownban” as many view it.

Also, hashtags:

“Hashtags are no longer a primary way to increase your reach on Instagram. They don’t significantly increase your reach on Instagram, contrary to popular belief.”

Mosseri also discusses branded content partnerships, its upcoming “Blend” feature, and a range of other creator myths and questions.

Some interesting notes, you can check out the full interview here.

So it’s D-Day for TikTok, the final day of its 75-day extension to work out a deal in the U.S. to avoid being banned, the final chance for the Trump Administration to wrangle an arrangement that will appease all sides, and keep the app available for American users, and…

President Trump has announced another 75-day extension of the deadline.

As per Trump (on Truth Social):

“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress. The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days. We hope to continue working in Good Faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs.”

Yeah, Trump’s large-scale tariffs, which have caused much angst around the world, have also caused an escalation in America’s ongoing rift with China, which has now prompted the Chinese government to refuse the proposed U.S. deal to sell TikTok into U.S. ownership.

The White House had reportedly arranged a deal that would see the U.S. arm of TikTok spun off into a separate entity, which would then be owned by a group of U.S. shareholders. TikTok owner ByteDance would retain a 19.9% stake in the new business, while America would effectively “lease” TikTok’s almighty algorithm, as opposed to taking full ownership of the app.

That, seemingly, would meet all the requirements of the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” while also appeasing the Chinese government, which has been opposed to a sale of TikTok’s systems, including its algorithms.

But it seems like the Chinese side has refused to accept the proposal, which has forced Trump to extend the negotiation period.

Which he can’t technically do. The TikTok sell off bill was already approved by the Senate and enacted into law before Trump took office, so technically, right now, TikTok is already banned in the U.S. But Trump has been able to establish a workaround, via executive order, which stops U.S. authorities from enforcing the law at this stage.

But it’s risky. Each U.S. company that enables TikTok to remain in operation in the region faces a $500 per-user fine for the duration of its operation within this period. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has provided written assurances that this will not be enforced, which is why TikTok is still running, but an extension of the negotiation period will theoretically increase those liabilities. Which could spook Apple, Google and Oracle, the three businesses which are taking the government at its word on this element.

But right now at least, TikTok remains in operation in the U.S., and will be available till at least the 18th June.

So, good for users, but not so great for longer-term stability within the app.

It looks like TikTok is going to remain available in the U.S., with the Trump Administration looking to move ahead with a new deal that would see the creation of a separate entity called “TikTok America”, and would then invite investment from U.S. partners.

As first reported by The Information, President Trump, who’s been working to find a way to save the app, has seemingly approved a deal that his team believes will meet the requirements of the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.” That bill went into law on January 19th, and it stipulates that TikTok must be sold into U.S. ownership in order to remain in operation in the nation.

And because the bill was approved before Trump was inaugurated, Trump can’t overturn the law as it stands. As such, Trump instead granted a 75-day suspension of enforcement of the law, and that hold will expire later this week.

But the White House is now confident that it’s found a way to keep the app in operation, while aligning with the letter of the new law.

The Information reports that “TikTok America” will be 50% owned by a group of U.S. investors. They will likely include Oracle, Blackrock, and Andreesen Horowitz, among others to be confirmed.

The deal would also license TikTok’s almightly algorithm to the U.S. entity, meeting a key requirement for the Chinese government, in that TikTok owner ByteDance won’t be forced to sell its algorithm.

The only challenge then is that the law states that foreign-owned entities cannot have direction or control over the platform, nor maintain an “operational relationship” in regards to its content recommendation algorithms.

It’s unclear if leasing the algorithm will meet these specifics, but again, the Trump teams seems confident that it will meet the bar.

The proposal will also see ByteDance will retain a 19.9% stake in the U.S. entity. The law says that foreign-owned entities cannot own more than 20% of the app, so 0.1% less is within those parameters.

So, is it a good deal?

Well, it seems like it could technically meet the legal requirements of the Senate-approved law, which would keep TikTok in operation in the U.S. But the fact that ByteDance will maintain operational control of the algorithm, while also holding a significant stake in the app, could be seen as too much of a concession by some who supported the initial bill.

As a reminder, the original bill was enacted due to unspecified national security concerns, relating to both the collection of data on U.S. citizens via the app, and the dissemination of pro-China propaganda. Neither of these elements has been definitively proven, at least not based on what’s been shared publicly by security agencies. But after U.S. senators were briefed on these threats, they voted for the bill with a cumulative 431 to 83 count across the House and the Senate. That means that the vast majority of senators, Republican and Democrat, held grave concerns about the app following these top secret briefings.    

As such, the fact that ByteDance would still “own” the algorithm could be a sticking point, and it’ll be interesting to see how the proposal is pressure tested ahead of enactment.

Also, it’ll be interesting to see what other companies look to get in on the act, and buy a stake in the U.S. TikTok entity.

Amazon, Walmart, MrBeast, Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, and many others have shown an interest in the platform. Could they also look to build their own business interests in the app via a shared ownership structure?

There are still some kinks to work out, but it does seem like TikTok will remain available in the U.S.