President Donald Trump has reportedly chosen Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, owners of Fox News, as part of a group that will have control over TikTok’s influential algorithm.
The move further consolidates right-wing media control while the Trump administration engages in a full-scale assault on the First Amendment.
“Rupert is probably gonna be in the group, I think they’re gonna be in the group, a couple of others. Really great people. Very prominent people. And they’re also American patriots, they love this country, so I think they’re gonna do a really good job,” Trump told reporters on Sunday.
Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch
He also said that Murdoch’s son Lachlan and billionaire tech tycoons Larry Ellison and Michael Dell would be included.
The sale of TikTok was mandated by a 2024 law targeting the company for security concerns due to its Chinese ownership. Trump has repeatedly extended the deadline for a sale since he took office in January.
TikTok reportedly has 136 million users within the United States—that’s more than in any other country—and the site’s videos have been enormously influential in politics and entertainment. Similar to right-wing billionaire Elon Musk’s purchase of X (formerly Twitter), the sale of TikTok could be extremely influential over U.S. politics.
The Murdoch family media empire, News Corp, has its hands on outlets around the world, including the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal, and The Sun. The family’s politics are extremely right-wing, and Fox has been a consistent promoter of Trump’s lies.
In fact, the network is so far in Trump’s corner that it paid out nearly $800 million in legal settlements after airing conspiracies falsely claiming that Trump won the 2020 election.
Trump is currently suing Murdoch over Wall Street Journal’s reporting on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, whose friendship with the president has been well documented over the years.
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Oracle, the tech company co-founded by multibillionaire Ellison, will also reportedly oversee TikTok’s algorithm. Ellison was a Trump donor in the 2020 election and was part of meetings regarding Trump’s second term.
In related media developments, Paramount Skydance is also reportedly preparing a bid to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns outlets like CNN. Ellison, who is the father of Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, is apparently also financing much of this takeover.
The behind-the-scenes maneuvers with TikTok and Paramount Skydance reveal the predatory nature of right-wing forces encircling the media—all while Trump uses the government to censor anyone who disagrees with him.
