TikTok Is Too Big to Ignore — but Security Must Come First

How a random dance app transformed how small and large businesses alike advertise & reach audiences, while creating a geopolitical firestorm along the way.

Courtesy: Barrons

The United States and China have sketched out a framework deal to keep TikTok active in America. On paper, it looks promising. Here is a brief look: an American-led group, including Oracle and Silver Lake, would take about 80 percent control of TikTok’s U.S. business. ByteDance, the Chinese parent company, would keep just under 20 percent, and Oracle would hold American user data.

While we are optimistic, let’s not kid ourselves. The biggest questions are still unresolved. Beijing has already insisted that TikTok’s Chinese-built algorithm will remain under license. That means ByteDance continues to hold the keys to the very system that drives TikTok’s power. And without ironclad audits, the U.S. cannot be certain whether data and moderation truly operate free from foreign interference.

Courtesy: Time

Why does this matter? Because TikTok is not just teenagers dancing on phones. It has become one of the most powerful advertising tools in the world. Businesses, large and small, depend on it. Industry data show TikTok regularly outperforms Meta and Google on impressions and engagement. Ad dollars go further, often delivering national reach on a local budget. That efficiency has fueled growth for startups, mom-and-pop shops, and global brands alike.

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For many small firms, TikTok is not optional — it is survival. In a fragmented media landscape, its algorithm delivers discovery that other platforms cannot match. Losing that channel would cut off a lifeline at the worst possible time, when businesses are still reshaping budgets after pandemic and four years of rampant government induced inflation shocks.

The national security risks are real. The Chinese Communist Party has a long record of intellectual property (IP) theft and digital espionage. A platform of TikTok’s scale offers a tempting trove of American user data, and a subtle lever to influence what hundreds of millions see on their screens. A bipartisan Congress understood this when it passed a law in 2024 requiring TikTok to be sold or banned.

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“The most important dimension of U.S.–China relations is technology, which is vital to economic, military, and even ideological competition.” - Derek Scissors

Here lies the tension. Banning TikTok outright would raise free-speech concerns and erase a vital advertising marketplace. Pretending there’s no risk, however, is even more dangerous. That is why the Trump administration must stay the course and hammer out a deal that goes beyond paper ownership. Real security means verifiable data residency, strict audits, and a firewall that makes Beijing’s influence impossible.

The choice is not between business and security. It is whether the U.S. has the will to protect both. American companies have built real value on TikTok, and pulling the plug would hand an advantage back to entrenched giants like Meta and Google. But letting a hostile superpower keep even a whisper of control is not an option.

TikTok is too important to abandon — and too dangerous to leave unguarded. If Washington can design the right safeguards, businesses and consumers alike will keep benefiting from one of the most effective advertising tools of the decade. If not, then the U.S. must be ready to walk away. The next few months will tell us which path we take.

About the Author: Tim Hennessy spent 25 years in broadcast television and has served as an advertising agency owner, political campaign manager, and grassroots community organizer. He is currently the President of Hennessy Strategies. Founded in 2020, Hennessy Strategies is a full-service branding and advertising agency serving a diverse client base of innovative companies, candidates, elected officials, nonprofits, and entrepreneurial start-ups from Southwest Florida.