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2.5 Minute Read

With all of the noise about TikTok in recent weeks, we've received several questions about the implications for public affairs (thank you for the questions and keep them coming!). In today's short read we discuss why TikTok still doesn't move the needle when you need to reach decision-makers, and in fact why no social media platform does.

What Just Happened With TikTok?

In April 2024, President Biden signed legislation forcing TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance Ltd., to divest its U.S. operations within 270 days or face a nationwide ban. That deadline arrived in January 2025; TikTok briefly went dark in the U.S. for about 12 hours before service was restored following an executive order delay.

Over the last few weeks, momentum has built toward a deal. The U.S. and China reached a framework agreement for a U.S. spin-off of TikTok’s American business, under which a consortium of mostly U.S. investors— including Oracle Corporation, Silver Lake Partners and Andreessen Horowitz—would control approximately 80% of the newly-formed entity. ByteDance would retain a minority stake but would license the algorithm and surrender operational control. Meanwhile, President Trump signed an executive order postponing enforcement of the 2024 law for roughly 120 days to allow the deal to be finalized.

Despite the headline deal taking shape, several critical questions remain unresolved: Chinese government approval, the full mapping and transfer (or retraining) of TikTok’s recommendation algorithm, and oversight of U.S. user-data storage and content moderation. Some U.S. lawmakers continue to argue that any lingering Chinese influence (via ByteDance’s retained stake or algorithm license) undermines the national security rationale for the law.

This is obviously a messy saga, and the final outcome is still unclear. But we see zero reason to think that the potential TikTok sale might suddenly make the platform more relevant for public affairs. Here's why:

TikTok still does not allow paid public affairs or political ads.

While this might change after the sale, no social platform even under U.S. ownership allows both the one-to-one targeting and measurement that is indispensable when you must reach a specific decision-maker. Given that TikTok will continue to be under U.S. regulatory scrutiny even if the sale goes through, we certainly do not expect it to be the first social media platform to allow this type of targeting in the U.S.

One-to-one targeting and measurement continues to thrive on the most important digital mediums.

While you can't ensure that you're reaching any particular person on social media, you can do so on the most important digital mediums. This includes:

🔱 Connected TV (CTV)

🔱 Programmatic Online Video 

🔱 Programmatic Display

🔱 Native Programmatic (video and display)

🔱 Digital Audio

The residual roles for social media consist of building organic followers, posting organic content to those followers, and engaging them in grassroots advocacy. It's a modest (if unfocused) strategy at most to reach the public, but not policymakers directly. When you need to be sure you're reaching a target and measure the results to prove it, skip the distractions of social media.

Three Ways To Operationalize This Email

🔱 Keep your TikTok time for the personal, not the political.

🔱 Tune out the noise of social media in your public affairs work.

🔱 Focus on the following when you need to reach key targets and prove it with measurement: CTV; programmatic online video, native, and display; digital audio.

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