Professor: TikTok deal targets algorithms

Dr. Brian L. Ott says the goal of the TikTok deal is to gain control over algorithms with monetization as the ultimate goal. #TikTok

Transcript

00:00So, what would the deal, as currently proposed, do and what would it look like?

00:05So, effectively what the negotiations are attempting to do is to create a new third-party

00:12entity that's based in the United States and that third-party entity would take over, if

00:18not ownership, at least control of the algorithm.

00:22The algorithm is what allows TikTok to track user behavior and then to push new content

00:30based on that behavior and at least the negotiations that I'm hearing, the negotiations that have

00:36been leaked so far to the media, suggest that what the U.S.-based company would do is actually

00:44try to find ways to monetize those algorithms more than they're already monetized by promoting

00:50advertising, which is really the aim of all social media platforms.