Between January and June 2025, TikTok took down 7,464,081 videos in Nigeria for violating its Community Guidelines, 3,683,655 in the first quarter and 3,780,426 in the second, representing more than 41,000 removals every single day.

The scale is arresting on its own terms. But it is what the numbers reveal when placed inside TikTok’s broader global transparency data that makes them truly significant, because Nigeria’s story turns out to be both unique and universal.

What Nigeria’s Numbers Actually Show

The volume of Nigerian content removed tells one story. The mechanics behind those removals tell a more complicated one.

In the first quarter of 2025, 88.2 per cent of all removed Nigerian videos had zero views. By the second quarter, that figure had edged up to 88.3 per cent, meaning nearly nine in ten harmful videos were deleted before a single Nigerian user saw them.

That is a system working, at least at the level of detection speed. But beneath the headline efficiency numbers, specific categories of harmful content were slipping through at rates that should concern regulators, advertisers, and users alike.

Content involving fraud and scams carried a pre-view removal rate of just 44.4 per cent in Q1 2025, meaning more than half of scam videos were seen by Nigerian users before being flagged and removed. AI-generated or edited media designed to deceive fared little better, with a pre-view catch rate of only 46.6 per cent. In a country where digital financial fraud is already a significant and well-documented public harm, those numbers represent a meaningful gap between platform capability and platform responsibility.

Scam content also took longer to action once detected, with a 24-hour removal rate of just 61.8 per cent in Q1, far below the 90 to 99 per cent range seen in other content categories.

Beyond individual videos, TikTok took action in March 2025 against 129 accounts in West Africa linked to covert influence operations, a data point that places Nigeria squarely inside the global conversation about how short-form video platforms are being used to manipulate political environments, not just to share dance challenges.

The Government Engagement Gap

Here is where Nigeria’s story becomes most analytically interesting, and most uncomfortable.

Despite the sheer volume of content enforcement affecting Nigerian users, Nigeria does not appear among the leading nations in TikTok’s Government Removal Requests data for H1 2025.

Of the 89 countries that submitted content and account removal requests to TikTok during the period, Malaysia led with 5,141 requests, while Romania followed with approximately 3,432.

Nigeria, one of TikTok’s most active African markets and a country with documented exposure to platform-enabled fraud and political manipulation, is not in that leading group.

The gap between the scale of enforcement affecting Nigerian users and the degree of formal Nigerian government engagement with TikTok’s regulatory mechanisms is not merely a bureaucratic footnote.

It is a signal about regulatory capacity, digital diplomacy, and the degree to which African governments are actively leveraging tools that other states are deploying far more aggressively.

While Nigerians generate and consume content at a pace that puts the country among TikTok’s significant African markets, the formal relationship between Nigerian regulatory institutions and the platform’s governance architecture remains underdeveloped relative to what the volume of activity, and the documented harms, would warrant.

The Global Picture: Governments Learning to Fight Back

Pull back further, and what TikTok’s H1 2025 data reveals is something more significant than any single country’s removal numbers: a structured, accelerating global contest between governments and platforms over who ultimately controls the information environment experienced by citizens.

Malaysia’s position at the top of the removal request table is not accidental. In the first half of 2024, Malaysian authorities had already led globally with 2,606 removal requests.

The H1 2025 figure of 5,141 represents a near-doubling in twelve months, the output of a government that has deliberately invested in understanding and using platform governance mechanisms as an instrument of national information policy.

Romania’s emergence as the second-highest requester tells a different but equally instructive story. Following the annulment of Romania’s presidential election in December 2024, in which TikTok was specifically named in concerns about foreign-linked influence operations affecting voter sentiment, TikTok built out extra precautions for the country’s subsequent electoral processes and saw a significant increase in enforcement activity.

The surge in Romanian government requests in H1 2025 is the direct downstream consequence of a political crisis in which a social media platform found itself at the centre of a constitutional emergency.

Taken together, Malaysia and Romania represent two distinct models of intensifying government engagement with TikTok: one driven by ongoing domestic content governance priorities, the other triggered by acute democratic threat. Both models are spreading.

The China Silence

In a dataset documenting government requests from 89 countries, one absence stands out with particular sharpness.

China, whose ByteDance subsidiary owns TikTok, submitted no removal requests during the H1 2025 reporting period, consistent with prior transparency cycles.

The absence draws consistent attention from digital rights researchers, who note that the formal request mechanism available to other governments is structurally redundant for Chinese authorities.

The regulatory architecture within which ByteDance operates domestically makes the kind of arm’s-length content negotiation that other governments must conduct through TikTok’s transparency portal an unnecessary formality.

It is a detail that speaks volumes about the asymmetric nature of the global platform governance contest, and about why the question of who ultimately controls TikTok’s content decisions remains unresolved despite years of regulatory scrutiny from Washington to Brussels.

The Deeper Question

What TikTok’s H1 2025 data ultimately documents, from the 41,000 daily Nigerian removals to Malaysia’s 5,141 government requests to Romania’s election-driven enforcement surge, is the slow, uneven, and still-contested formalisation of a new kind of sovereignty: the power to determine what information citizens in any given territory are permitted to access on the world’s most-watched video platform.

Some states are exercising that power aggressively and systematically. Others, Nigeria among them, are only beginning to understand that the mechanism exists, let alone how to use it.

The race, by TikTok’s own data, is already well underway. The question for Nigeria, and for Africa more broadly, is whether the continent’s regulators will arrive at the table before the rules are already written.

[TikTok publishes Government Removal Requests data biannually through its Transparency Center. The full H1 2025 dataset is available here].

The new site will be built in Lahti, in southern Finland and the company said it will start with a capacity of 50 megawatts and could expand to 128 megawatts over time.

Projecting the facility to be up and running by 2027, TikTok began work on its first Finnish data centre in Kouvola less than a year ago. This is due to become operational by the end of this year.

Together, both sites are part of a 12 billion euro plan to store and manage European data locally.

TikTok says the programme is designed to strengthen safety for more than 200 million users across Europe. The company currently stores European data across centres in Norway, Ireland and the United States, with added security measures in place.

Pressure on TikTok has been growing on both sides of the Atlantic. In Europe, regulators are paying more attention to how social media platforms handle user data and protect children.

In the United States, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, avoided a ban in January after agreeing to strengthen data management.

Finland has attracted a steady flow of data centre projects in recent years. Similar investments have come from tech firms, drawn by the country’s cold climate, which reduces cooling costs, and its supply of low-cost, low-carbon electricity. The regulatory environment has also helped.

Still, not everyone in Finland is fully convinced. Last year, when details of TikTok’s first project emerged, some politicians said they were not properly informed. Questions around security and transparency have not completely gone away.

Local officials in Lahti have taken a more positive view. Mayor Niko Kyynarainen said, “In the context of Lahti, the investment is substantial. We are pleased that a main tenant agreement has been signed and that the project is progressing as planned.”

The platform, owned by ByteDance, has applied to Brazil’s central bank for two licences that would allow it to operate as a payments and lending company. The people told Reuters the plans are confidential and asked not to be named.

One of the licences would permit TikTok to act as an electronic money issuer. That would allow users to hold balances, receive funds and make payments within the app.

The second would enable it to operate as a direct credit company, meaning it could lend its own funds or connect borrowers with lenders, but not take deposits.

If regulators approve the applications, TikTok could begin offering basic financial services in one of the world’s most active digital banking markets.

Brazil has seen strong growth in fintech, with firms such as Nubank, Banco Inter, PicPayand Mercado Pago competing for users across payments and lending.

TikTok has not responded to requests for comment. Brazil’s central bank also declined to comment.

Still, there are signs the company is moving ahead with its plans. Executives from ByteDance, including payments head Liao Baohua, met central bank governor Gabriel Galipolo in Brasília in March 2026, according to his public schedule.

It is not yet clear whether TikTok intends to roll out a full set of financial products or focus on supporting transactions tied to content and e-commerce on its platform.

The company has taken similar steps elsewhere. In China, ByteDance launched its own payment service in 2021 to support shopping within its apps, competing with established platforms like Alipay and WeChat Pay.

In Indonesia, it pursued a payments licence in 2023 but was later blocked from handling transactions directly, forcing it to work with local partners.

Brazil has one of the highest rates of social media use globally, and TikTok already has a vast audience there, easing its new focus if the payments licence is approved.

By late 2025, the platform had about 131 million adult users in the country, with advertising reaching 80% of that population, according to DataReportal.

The company has also shown a long-term commitment to the market. It said last year it would invest more than 200 billion reais, or about $38.4 billion, in a data centre in Brazil.

Regulators have encouraged competition in financial services but still keep a close watch on new entrants, especially foreign firms handling payments and user data.

The company announced on Thursday that it will cut its standard commission on in-app purchases and paid transactions to 25%, down from 30%. The change takes effect on Sunday.

Developers in Apple’s small business and mini-apps partner programmes will also pay less, with commission dropping to 12% from 15%.

Mini apps are smaller programs that run inside larger platforms such as WeChat, operated by Tencent.

For Chinese developers, the decision removes part of what many have called the “Apple tax”. Companies that run so-called super apps, including Tencent and ByteDance, host large numbers of these smaller applications built by outside developers.

State-owned newspaper Economic Daily says the fee cut could save Chinese developers more than 6 billion yuan, or about $873 million, each year.

“This adjustment will … improve consumption choices and information transparency,” the newspaper said.

“The premium for digital goods and services on the iOS side will be gradually eliminated, and the prices of membership subscriptions, game recharges, live broadcast tips, mini programs and other scenarios are expected to decrease, which is expected to save consumers up to nearly 1 billion yuan per year.”

Apple did not directly link the decision to regulatory pressure. Still, the change follows discussions with Chinese authorities about App Store fees and policies.

The new commission rates start on March 15, which is World Consumer Rights Day. Chinese state media usually use the day to highlight complaints against companies accused of harming consumer interests.

The App Store commission has been called out around the world, with regulators in the European Union forcing Apple to lower developer commissions to between 10% and 17% in 2024 under new digital market rules.

Pressure has also increased in the United States, where Apple now allows alternative in-app payment methods after legal challenges.

China has taken a close look as well, and authorities have considered whether Apple App Store practices violate antitrust rules, and Chinese consumers filed a complaint over the fee structure last year.

Rich Bishop, founder of AppInChina, which helps foreign developers publish apps in China, said regulators have been involved in discussions with Apple.

“In China’s case, (Apple) have been talking with the IT ministry and other departments, and has been requested or pressured ‌to reduce ⁠their fees,” he said.

The change will apply to Chinese companies and also to international developers whose apps appear on the China App Store.

One example is Duolingo, which Bishop said generates about $50 million in annual revenue from Chinese users.

Apple already adapts its App Store policies to comply with Chinese regulations. In the past, the company removed virtual private network apps after requests from internet regulators.

More changes could come and Chinese authorities may eventually require Apple to collect App Store revenues inside the country rather than overseas. This would increase regulatory oversight of foreign apps operating in China.

Those who make the case for an indigenous platform, one that prioritises local content and prevents the extraction of data by foreign companies and governments, have a strong argument.

Over the weekend, I read ‘TikTok is tracking you, even if you don’t use the app’ by Thomas Germain on the BBC, and I was alarmed by how TikTok, owned by ByteDance, harvests users’ data, including that of people who are not even on the platform.

But does Africa need its own social media platform?

Despite the growing calls for Africa to develop its own indigenous (Social media) platform, the answer is not a simple yes.

Digital Sovereignty and the Data Question

Africans have grown increasingly fond of existing platforms; Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Threads, Truth Social, Bluesky, among others.

According to World Population Review, Egypt leads the continent with 56.4 million Facebook users, followed by Nigeria with 51.2 million. On Instagram, the figures stand at 19.4 million users in Egypt and 12.6 million in Nigeria.

Since the boom of social media in the early 2000s, these platforms have evolved from simple digital tools for connecting with friends into vast economic ecosystems where businesses connect with customers. Africans have benefited immensely from the business opportunities they offer.

However, this comes with a trade-off.

As Germain highlighted, “TikTok collects sensitive and potentially embarrassing information about you even if you’ve never used the app.”

If you do not understand how tracking pixels work, you have likely experienced their effects. Browse for shoes once, and advertisements for footwear follow you from Facebook to Instagram to TikTok.

While TikTok may be snooping in a more invasive manner, it is not alone in monetising your digital footprint.

What worries proponents of Africa having its own platform is that this harvesting of personal data is carried out by foreign companies, with very little local control over how it is stored, analysed, or deployed. These concerns are valid and strengthen the argument that Africa is ripe for its own digital infrastructure.

But there is more at stake than data protection.

When Algorithms Shape Our Reality

I have increasingly found that today’s social media algorithms remove us from the immediate realities of our surrounding environments.

After Elon Musk purchased Twitter and renamed it X, the platform appeared to lean more heavily into hate speech and misinformation. I barely visit it now, despite it once being my preferred social space.

Other platforms are not exempt from similar shortcomings. You can spend hours on Facebook and know everything happening in America, immigration raids, culture wars, political theatre, without catching wind of pressing issues in your own locality.

While algorithms prioritise user behaviour and individual preferences, they tend to amplify certain ‘global’ issues while local conversations remain under-represented.

Joseph Origbo, an AI researcher at Nottingham Trent University, noted that social media platforms are no longer digital billboards. They have evolved into “AI-driven ecosystems that decide what you see, who you hear from, and which voices are silenced.”

“That’s why Nigeria needs its own platforms, not only for control, but for contextual relevance,” he said.

The erosion of local content, and, by extension, knowledge crucial to Africans, is deeply concerning. What is the use of being on social media if I cannot find content that helps me solve my most immediate needs?

Beyond Virality: Rethinking What a Platform Should Do

Perhaps, instead of building another social media platform, one that prioritises virality and rewards impressions, Africa should focus on creating an interactive, knowledge-based platform where Africans can share their lived experiences: how they navigated career paths, how to rent safely in Lagos, the cost of importing goods, or how to start a business with limited capital.

Such experience-driven content, created by Africans for Africans, would go a long way in helping the over 600 million Africans who are online navigate their realities by learning directly from others who have lived through similar conditions and how they overcame them.

While social media offers business opportunities, Africans have largely used it for entertainment since its advent. In addition to the wanton spread of information online, including on social media, young people are increasingly struggling with decision-making, with many anchoring their choices on the curated lives of others who do not share similar realities.

Diya N. Dharaiya and Dr. Deep Pathak, in their research published last year, argued that “repeated interaction with idealized content on Instagram often triggers negative emotions and reduced self-esteem due to social comparison.”

According to the duo, “this emotional impact can influence decision-making, as people may alter their choices to align with what appears to be socially valued in order to seek approval online.”

In a recent survey by Pew Research Center, nearly half (48 percent) of the teenagers surveyed said that social media sites have a “mostly negative effect on people their age.” 

But could there be a platform where, in addition to connecting and enjoying engaging content, Africans gain practical value, learning how to improve their lives in tangible ways?

A Knowledge-First Alternative

In my curiosity, I found Feedcover, a platform positioning itself as Nigeria’s first hyper-localised knowledge content platform.

When I reached out to its founder, Mr. Shina Memud, he described Feedcover as “a place where everyday Nigerians can share their lived experiences and connect with others who live in their reality. This makes Feedcover not simply a publishing tool, but a platform structured around context.”

Launched in December 2025, creators on Feedcover have published over 5,000 pieces of content centred on lived experiences, an approach designed to preserve and amplify local context.

“Many social media users still struggle to find content that can solve their problems despite spending hours online,” Mr. Memud explained. “To create content on Feedcover, users must choose a specific category, from Technology to Relationships, Culture, Government and more. There are at least 36 categories available to capture the diverse reasons Africans use social media.”

According to him, content creation is structured around what he calls Primary Intent: How to, Where to, When to, Who Is, Can I, Why, What If, Cost and Price, among others.

These categories allow Feedcover to function as a warehouse of knowledge created by Africans to help others solve challenges they too have faced.

“Africa still has a knowledge gap,” Mr. Memud told me. “If we can get creators to share lived experiences about how they solved or navigated past challenges, it will help others facing similar problems know exactly how to tackle them.”

In today’s social media landscape, many people create smoke-screen content that does not reflect their true challenges or realities.

For Mr. Memud, building yet another social media platform, even an indigenous one, will not automatically solve the knowledge gap facing young Africans.

“The need for sharing more helpful knowledge is why content creation revolves around the outlined Primary Intent. Experts in various fields can own a space and create content based on what they know, so that those in need of such knowledge can benefit from it,” he added.

I am not against an indigenous social media platform. In fact, it would get my vote. However, in a continent where 445 million people live in extreme poverty, accounting for 67 percent of those surviving on less than $1.90 per day, another social media platform that encourages young people to while away their time is not what the region needs. Rather, a platform that encourages the free sharing of knowledge in a hyper-localized and intentional format is what the continent should be striving for.

The development comes after years of legal and political challenges, which threatened to ban the app for more than 200 million Americans.

The new entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, will house U.S. user data and algorithms under strict cybersecurity measures. American and global investors will hold 80.1% of the venture, leaving ByteDance with 19.9%. 

Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX are the managing investors, each with a 15% stake. TikTok’s U.S. data and recommendation algorithm will be hosted on Oracle’s U.S. cloud, allowing oversight while ByteDance continues to manage revenue-generating operations like advertising and e-commerce.

The venture’s leadership includes former TikTok USDS executives Adam Presser as CEO and Will Farrell as chief security officer. TikTok CEO Shou Chew joins the board to provide strategic guidance. 

The JV will retrain and update TikTok’s content algorithm to ensure it operates solely on U.S. user data.

This deal results from the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, passed in April 2024. The law required ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. assets or face a nationwide ban, a provision upheld by the Supreme Court in January 2025. 

Without the divestiture, TikTok risked removal from app stores and halted updates, which could have significantly weakened the platform’s U.S. presence.

The agreement received bipartisan attention. Former President Donald Trump, who first tried to ban the app in 2020 over national security concerns, praised the venture as “owned by a group of Great American Patriots and Investors.” 

The White House confirmed that both U.S. and Chinese authorities signed off on the deal, although the Chinese Embassy in Washington has not yet commented publicly.

The joint venture is part of a U.S.-China technology rivalry. In separating U.S. user data and algorithms from ByteDance’s global operations, the structure aligns with earlier national security debates surrounding Chinese tech firms. 

TikTok’s U.S. operations are effectively split, the venture oversees data and backend operations, while ByteDance maintains commercial operations, including e-commerce and advertising.

Investors include high-profile firms such as the Dell Family Office, Vastmere Strategic Investments, Alpha Wave Partners, Revolution, Merritt Way, Via Nova, Virgo LI, and NJJ Capital. 

TikTok aims to comply with U.S. law and also to reassure users and regulators about data security while maintaining the app’s growth and influence in the U.S.

The feature allows users to buy digital gift cards valued between $10 and $500, giving recipients a simple way to shop from the app’s growing catalogue. 

Cards are sent by email and can only be redeemed by users with a TikTok account. Once claimed, the value is added straight to the recipient’s TikTok balance, ready to spend.

TikTok Shop is working to prove it can move beyond impulse buys and creator-led sales into mainstream online retail. In adding gift cards, it is stepping directly into territory long dominated by Amazon and eBay, where gifting is a huge driver of repeat spending.

What stands out is how social the process is designed to be. Buyers can choose from animated designs built for birthdays, weddings, thank-you messages and other occasions. Recipients can reply with a note of thanks or send a gift card back. TikTok says this is only the start.

A spokesperson said future updates will enhance personalisation, including the option to attach recorded or uploaded video messages. The company also pointed to an “interactive unboxing that captures their reaction in real-time,” though details were not disclosed.

For now, the TikTok Shop digital gift cards are only available for purchase in the U.S., with no timeline announced for other markets.

The rollout follows a strong showing during the 2025 Black Friday and Cyber Monday period, when TikTok Shop recorded more than $500 million in U.S. sales over four days. 

That figure represents almost 50% growth compared with the same period in 2024. Brands such as Disney and Samsung took part in the holiday push, a sign that TikTok Shop is attracting more established retailers, not just small merchants and influencers.

At the same time, the platform is widening its product mix. Alongside everyday goods, TikTok Shop has moved into luxury fashion and resale items, a clear attempt to increase average order values and appeal to older, wealthier shoppers.

Yet all of this growth sits under a cloud of uncertainty. TikTok’s U.S. operations are being restructured into a new entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, which will be majority owned by American investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and UAE-based MGX. 

ByteDance is expected to retain roughly 20% ownership, while U.S. partners take control of data security and oversight of the algorithm.

The deal must close by January 22, 2026, to comply with U.S. law. If it fails, TikTok faces a nationwide ban, a scenario that would put TikTok Shop’s U.S. vision at risk just as they begin to gain traction.

This is designed to avert a nationwide ban and settle long-running security challenges with Washington.

Under the binding agreement, ByteDance will cut its stake to 19.9%, while investors led by Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi’s MGX will collectively take 80.1% ownership of a newly formed company, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. 

The structure is intended to satisfy U.S. laws that demand the separation of TikTok’s American business from Chinese control.

The arrangement follows legislation passed by Congress in April 2024 that required ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations or face a ban. The Supreme Court upheld the law in January 2025, setting a January deadline. This joint venture, due to close on 22 January, is meant to meet that requirement.

Ownership alone, however, has not ended the issue. The new entity will be run by a seven-member board, with Americans holding most seats. ByteDance will appoint one director. Oracle has been named the “trusted security partner” and will be responsible for auditing compliance and protecting US user data, which will be stored on Oracle’s cloud infrastructure inside the United States.

TikTok’s chief executive, Shou Zi Chew, told staff that the venture would “operate as an independent entity with authority over U.S. data protection, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurance,” according to an internal memo. 

He also said TikTok’s global US entities would separately handle “global product interoperability and certain commercial activities, including e-commerce, advertising, and marketing”.

Even so, there’s still uncertainty over the heart of the platform, its recommendation algorithm. Former U.S. officials and analysts say it is still not clear if the algorithm has been transferred, licensed, or remains under ByteDance’s control, with Oracle potentially limited to oversight rather than ownership.

Reports from Chinese media have suggested ByteDance may continue to play an operational role or receive revenue from the US business, leading to questions about Beijing’s influence despite the new structure.

President Donald Trump has openly credited TikTok with helping his re-election and maintains a large following on the app. His administration has also launched an official White House TikTok account. At the same time, Trump’s close ties to Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison have drawn criticism from Democrats.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has been among the most vocal opponents, saying: “Trump wants to hand over even more control of what you watch to his billionaire buddies. Americans deserve to know if the president struck another backdoor deal for this billionaire takeover of TikTok.”

Trump previously said high-profile investors, including Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch, could be involved, though there are no reports about who ultimately joined the final deal.

This agreement ends the immediate threat of a ban, but not the argument around influence and control. 

In its preliminary findings released on Friday, the Commission said Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok may have placed “burdensome procedures and tools” that make it difficult for independent researchers to examine how these platforms influence public life, health, and safety. 

It described such access as “an essential transparency obligation under the DSA, as it provides public scrutiny into the potential impact of platforms on our physical and mental health.”

Meta and TikTok both denied wrongdoing; a Meta spokesperson told Reuters, “We have introduced changes to our content reporting options, appeals process, and data access tools since the DSA came into force and are confident that these solutions match what is required under the law in the EU.” 

TikTok, however, maintained that while it supports transparency, regulatory overlaps complicate compliance. “But requirements to ease data safeguards place the DSA and GDPR in direct tension,” a company spokesperson said. 

“If it is not possible to fully comply with both, we urge regulators to provide clarity on how these obligations should be reconciled.”

The DSA, which came fully into effect in August 2023, imposes strict obligations on “Very Large Online Platforms” such as Meta and TikTok. These platforms are expected to give researchers access to public data, allow users to report illegal content like hate speech or terrorism, and disclose how their algorithms make content recommendations.

The Commission said Meta’s Facebook and Instagram failed to offer a “user-friendly and easily accessible” system for flagging harmful content, including child sexual abuse and terrorist material. It also accused Meta of using “deceptive interface designs” that could confuse or discourage users from reporting such posts. 

TikTok’s data-sharing framework was similarly criticised for being unreliable and incomplete, limiting research into online harms.

If these violations are confirmed after further consultations, both companies could face fines of up to 6% of their global annual revenue, a penalty that could cost Meta more than $7 billion based on its 2024 earnings.

Despite the serious implications, the findings are preliminary. The companies have the opportunity to respond and address the breaches before any final decision is made. The Meta spokesperson added that the company would “continue to negotiate with the Commission.”

The probe forms part of the EU’s focus on Big Tech, which has already placed X (formerly Twitter), Google, YouTube, and Amazon under investigation for issues ranging from disinformation to product safety.

The call, which began at 8 a.m. Washington time, was the first direct exchange between the two leaders in three months.

Earlier this year, Washington threatened to shut TikTok down unless its U.S. operations are transferred from Chinese parent company ByteDance to American ownership. 

Congress set a deadline of January 2025, though Trump has so far avoided enforcing it. He has admitted that banning the app outright could trigger a backlash among its millions of American users.

“I like TikTok; it helped get me elected,” Trump said on Thursday. “TikTok has tremendous value. The United States has that value in its hand because we’re the ones that have to approve it.”

Beijing, however, must sign off on any deal before it moves forward. Sources familiar with the talks say U.S. investors would take over TikTok’s American assets, but ByteDance would continue supplying the algorithm that drives the app’s powerful content recommendations. This unsettles U.S. lawmakers who argue that algorithmic control is inseparable from political influence.

“The platform may be American-owned, but if the algorithm is Chinese, the risk remains,” warned Senator Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Trade and technology disputes

The TikTok talks are unfolding against a bigger economic fight. Since returning to office, Trump has raised tariffs on Chinese goods, some to levels not seen in nearly a century. Beijing retaliated with its own restrictions, leaving both economies struggling. 

The U.S. is battling high inflation and a record trade deficit with China, while China’s growth slowed to 4.2% in the second quarter of 2025, its weakest pace since the pandemic.

Despite these pressures, Trump insists he is close to securing better terms with Beijing. “We’re pretty close to a deal,” he said on Thursday, hinting at an extension of current trade terms. Washington is pressing China to buy more U.S. soybeans and Boeing aircraft, while also demanding a crackdown on fentanyl-related chemical exports—an issue the U.S. blames for soaring overdose deaths.

TikTok as leverage

Analysts say Beijing is using TikTok as a bargaining chip while holding back exports of rare-earth materials vital for U.S. technology production. “China’s effective use of sticks (rare earths) and carrots (TikTok) has turned things heavily in their favour,” said Scott Kennedy of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Washington, in turn, has restricted China’s access to advanced semiconductor designs, jet engines and specialised chemicals.

Political stakes

For Trump, TikTok represents more than a trade issue. It is also a political tool. Banning the platform risks alienating young voters who use it daily. Allowing it to continue under a restructured deal, however, lets him claim a win on national security without losing a vital channel of communication.

Diplomats are already eyeing a possible face-to-face meeting between Trump and Xi at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea next month. Such a meeting could test whether personal diplomacy can ease one of the most fractious U.S.–China relationships in decades.

Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said: “Heads-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable role in providing strategic guidance for China-U.S. relations.”

As a sign of goodwill, Beijing recently allowed Wells Fargo banker Chenyue Mao to leave China after months of travel restrictions. Yet even with gestures like this, the unresolved issues—Taiwan, the South China Sea, and competing economic interests—make it obvious that a single phone call will not erase the deep mistrust between Washington and Beijing.