The recent surge in users in the United States abandoning TikTok after the announcement of a so-called "Americanized" joint venture offers an ironic footnote to the long-running political drama around the popular video-sharing app.
美国用户近期大规模放弃TikTok的现象，恰恰为围绕这款热门视频分享应用的长期政治风波增添了讽刺性的注脚。此前美国政府宣布将成立所谓“美国化”的合资企业。
For years, some US politicians have claimed that TikTok represents a grave "national security threat". Invoking slogans such as "privacy leakage risks" and "China threatens US data security" they created the specter of "Big Brother spying" on users of the app in the US.
多年来，美国某些政客声称TikTok构成严重的“国家安全威胁”。他们打着“隐私泄露风险”和“中国威胁美国数据安全”等口号，在美国用户中制造出“老大哥监视”的幽灵。
Yet, now that a deal has been forced through for US capital to acquire control of the app in the country under these pretexts, it is not China that users in the US appear to fear. It is the US elites and government.
然而，当美国资本以这些借口强行达成协议，取得该应用在中国的控制权后，美国用户似乎并非担忧中国，而是美国精英阶层和政府。
According to data from market intelligence company Sensor Tower, the daily average of US users deleting TikTok has jumped nearly 150 percent over the five days from Thursday to Monday compared with the previous three months. The spike followed TikTok's announcement that its US services would be operated by a new joint venture controlled by US capital, with a new leadership and a majority-US board. The message from users has been blunt: the promised "security solution" has only deepened anxiety.
据市场情报公司Sensor Tower数据显示，在TikTok宣布其美国业务将由一家由美国资本控股的新合资企业运营之后的周四至周一这五天内，美国用户每日平均删除TikTok应用的数量较此前三个月激增近150%。该企业将组建新管理层并由美国籍成员主导董事会。而用户传递的信息直截了当——所谓的“安全解决方案”反而加剧了不安情绪。
Social media skepticism flared after users were prompted to agree to an updated privacy policy. Critics seized on language describing potential data collection involving sensitive personal information. Yet archived versions of the policy show that this language was already present months earlier. What changed was not the policy itself, but who would ultimately sit behind the curtain of control.
社交媒体质疑声浪高涨，起因是用户被要求同意更新后的隐私政策。批评者抓住政策中描述可能收集敏感个人信息的相关表述大做文章。然而政策存档版本显示，这些表述早在数月前就已存在。真正改变的并非政策本身，而是最终掌控幕后大权的究竟是谁。
For years as it tried to wrest control of the company from its Chinese parent ByteDance, Washington claimed it was acting to protect US-based users from "foreign surveillance". Now, the same users are openly questioning whether the real risk lies in the concentration of data and influence in the hands of domestic political and financial elites. As one commenter in an Associated Press analysis put it, "There is something inherently wrong with allowing the people who control government policy to invest in the outcome. I believe it's called lining their own pockets."
多年来，美国政府在试图从中国母公司字节跳动手中夺取控制权时，声称此举是为了保护美国用户免受“外国监视”。如今，这些用户公开质疑真正的风险是否在于数据和影响力集中在国内政治金融精英手中。正如美联社分析报道中一位评论者所言：“允许掌控政府政策的人投资于政策结果本身就存在根本性问题。我认为这叫中饱私囊。”
The structure of the deal does little to dispel such doubts. The new TikTok US entity is backed by Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment company MGX, each holding 15 percent, alongside other US investors linked to powerful technology and media interests. ByteDance retains a 19.9 percent stake and licenses itsalgorithm to the US entity, which will retrain and operate it on US user data. In other words, the core technology remains Chinese intellectual property, while control over the data, moderation and distribution increasingly shifts to US capital.
TikTok的交易结构更是难以消除此类疑虑。新成立的TikTok美国实体由甲骨文、银湖资本和阿联酋投资公司MGX共同支持，三者各持股15%，另有其他与美国科技及媒体巨头相关的投资者参与。字节跳动保留19.9%股权，并将算法授权给美方，后者将利用美国用户数据对算法进行重新训练并运营。换言之，核心技术仍属中国知识产权，而数据控制权、内容审核权及分发权正日益向美国资本转移。
This arrangement exposes the essential nature of the deal: a forced transaction achieved through political pressure though it is claimed to be the outcome of "market negotiations".
这种模式暴露了交易的本质：尽管声称是“市场谈判”的结果，实则是通过政治压力强行达成的交易。
Under the threat of a congressionally mandated ban, a prized global digital asset was compelled to open its ownership to select US tycoons. "National security" rhetoric provided the packaging; capital redistribution was the content.
在国会强制禁令的威胁下，某项备受追捧的全球数字资产被迫向美国特定富豪开放所有权。“国家安全”的口号是包装，资本再分配才是实质内容。
Ironically, the very algorithm once portrayed as a "dangerous foreign weapon" is now expected to be "retrained" to produce a more "distinctly American" feed. As analysts note, this means trends will shift, rankings will change, and what dominates users' screens may increasingly reflect domestic political and commercial priorities. Who controls TikTok in the US has a lot of sway over what US citizens see on the app.
讽刺的是，曾经被描绘为“危险的外国武器”的算法，如今却被寄予厚望，要通过“重新训练”来生成更具“鲜明美国特色”的内容推送。正如分析人士所指出的，这意味着内容趋势将发生转变，内容排名将随之调整，而占据用户屏幕主导地位的内容，将日益反映国内政治与商业的优先事项。谁掌控美国境内的TikTok运营权，就将在很大程度上决定美国公民在该应用上所见的内容。
Unsurprisingly, creators are uneasy. Nadya Okamoto, a TikTok creator with more than 4 million followers, told the media that the company had failed to explain what the joint venture means for users. "That's why there is so muchparanoia," she said, adding that technical disruptions only intensified fears of censorship. Another viral comment summarized the mood with biting satire: The US didn't "save" TikTok—it redistributed its ownership to White House-aligned billionaires while leaving ByteDance's algorithm at the core.
不出所料，这让创作者们感到不安。拥有400多万粉丝的TikTok创作者娜迪娅·冈本（Nadya Okamoto）向媒体表示，该公司未能解释合资企业对用户意味着什么。她说：“这就是为什么有这么多疑虑。”并补充说技术中断只会加剧人们对审查的担忧。另一则疯传的评论以犀利讽刺概括了当前氛围：美国并未“拯救”TikTok；它只是将所有权重新分配给有美国政府撑腰的亿万富豪，同时保留字节跳动的核心算法。
Small business owners, whose livelihoods depend on the platform, are watching closely. Although they were relieved the ban threat was lifted, they are still worried the new owners might sideline e-commerce features. These business owners hold a wait-and-see mindset, as they really doubt whether TikTok's role in empowering voices that once lacked access to mass platforms can be retained.
小企业主们正密切关注事态发展，因为他们的生计依赖于该平台。尽管禁令威胁解除令他们松了口气，但他们仍担忧新东家可能削弱电商功能。这些企业主们持观望态度，因为他们深切怀疑TikTok能否继续发挥其赋能作用，让那些曾经无法接触大众平台的声音获得发声渠道。
The wave of uninstalls has not yet translated into a meaningful drop in active users, reflecting TikTok's massive user base and the reluctance of frequent users to leave. But the symbolic message is unmistakable. As one user wrote, "The new American TikTok will be like Panda Express for Chinese food: familiar on the surface, sanitized for mass appeal, owned by different interests, and stripped of the original's deeper flavor and context."
尽管卸载潮尚未导致活跃用户数量出现显著下滑，从这方面也反映出TikTok庞大的用户基数以及高频用户不愿离开的特性。但其中蕴含的象征意义不言而喻。正如一位用户所言：“新美国版TikTok将如同中餐界的熊猫快餐：表面熟悉，为迎合大众而过度净化，被不同利益集团掌控，并丧失了原版的深层风味与文化底蕴。”
In reality, the TikTok deal may already represent the maximum compromise possible under current circumstances. It satisfies US regulatory demands while preserving ByteDance's control over core intellectual property. If "privacy" and "data security" were truly the concerns, the deal should have reassured users. But it has not. Instead, it has suggested a deeper unease: In today's Washington, "national security" has become negotiable—provided the right people get a share.
实际上，TikTok的这场交易或许已是当前形势下可能达成的最大妥协。它既满足了美国监管机构的要求，又使字节跳动保留了对核心知识产权的控制权。若“隐私”与“数据安全”确为核心关切，该协议本应消除用户疑虑。但事实恰恰相反——它揭示出更深层的不安：在当今华盛顿，特定利益集团能分得一杯羹，“国家安全”已沦为可交易的商品。
The users' verdict, expressed through uninstall buttons and sharp-edged comments, may be the most telling commentary of all.
用户通过点击卸载按钮和发表尖锐评论所表达的判断，或许是最具说服力的评价。
algorithm
n./ˈæl.ɡə.rɪ.ðəm/
算法
paranoia
n./ˌper.əˈnɔɪ.ə/
疑虑
D'autres épisodes de "CD Voice"
Ne ratez aucun épisode de “CD Voice” et abonnez-vous gratuitement à ce podcast dans l'application GetPodcast.
