As Ellison buys out TikTok, U.S. moves toward one-Party media (September 2025)
mronline.org

... Larry Ellison, founder of the software firm Oracle, is the second-richest billionaire in both the U.S. and the world, and for a brief moment was No. 1 in the world (AP, 9/11/25). But for a long time, unlike many of his peers, he was unable to boast that he controlled a chunk of the news and opinion reaching the American public.

On Forbes US list, he is sandwiched between Elon Musk, No. 1, who bought the social media network Twitter and rebranded it as X, and Mark Zuckerberg, who runs Meta, which operates Facebook and Instagram. Jeff Bezos, at No. 4, has the Washington Post. Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, Nos. 5 and 6, operate the leading search engine as well as one of the most important news aggregators, Google News. Michael Bloomberg, at No. 13, the former New York City mayor, has Bloomberg and its various outlets.

Ellison seems to have joined the club, as TikTok, under U.S. government coercion (FAIR.org, 1/23/25), is selling 80% of its U.S. operations to an investor consortium that includes Oracle, along with investment firms Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz (Reuters, 9/16/25).

Ellison is a big Trumper, joining in the reactionary denial of the 2020 presidential elections (Washington Post, 5/20/22). Like some of the others in the deal, he is part of the inner circle of Trump's favorite corporate ideologues. This TikTok deal is not just about money. It's about control of the political narrative. ...

Climax Blues Band - Running out of Time (1975)
www.youtube.com

Lyrics excerpt ...

genius.com

...
Ride across the country
I can hear the people call
Some folks, they got everything
And I got nothin' at all

I don't want revolution
I just want a little something
While I sit and do my thing
The revolution's coming

Lookin' for a silver lining
Searchin' for a sign
If we're gonna make it, make it quick
Because we're runnin' out of time

Can't do things I want to
'Cause that's what money's for
I do things I don't want
Gonna cost me even more

Tomorrow is tomorrow
And a million years away
But I serve up every morning
To the mem' of yesterday

Lookin' for a silver lining
Searchin' for a sign
If we're gonna make it, make it quick
Because we're runnin' out of time, yeah

Money's makin' money
It's just the way it always is
People are makin' people
Who've got no way to pay
...

Paramount extends deadline on hostile Warner Bros bid to February 20
www.reuters.com

CBS News -- Bias and Credibility
mediabiasfactcheck.com

... Overall, we rate CBS News as Right-Center Biased in this update due to emerging editorial decisions and leadership influence under Bari Weiss that suggest a shift away from its historically left-center orientation.

Due to emerging evidence that CBS News is censoring content unfavorable to the government, we are downgrading its rating to Mostly Factual with Medium credibility, despite its historically strong sourcing, professional reporting, and lack of significant failed fact checks. ...

TikTok US venture to collect precise user location data
www.bbc.com

... TikTok's new US joint venture has made changes to its privacy policy that include expanding the type of location data the company can collect from its 200 million American users.

The new policy was published after investors closed a deal with TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance on Thursday to run the popular short-form video app's business in the US.

The new joint venture said in its updated privacy terms that it may now "collect precise location data, depending on your settings" - a change from the previous policy which allowed for the collection of "approximate" location data.

TikTok did not immediately respond to the BBC's request for comment on the change.

The company policy added that the sensitive personal information would be processed "in accordance with applicable law" and that users can turn off location services in their device settings at any time. ...

The new American TikTok joint venture is also extending its permissions for gathering information about users interactions with TikTok's artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

This includes prompts and questions submitted by users, as well as information about how, when, and where AI content was prompted or created.

TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC is comprised of three managing investors including cloud computing giant Oracle, which is investing heavily in AI infrastructure and has taken on significant debt to finance its ambitions in the burgeoning space.

Oracle is chaired by Larry Ellison, a Republican megadonor and longtime ally of US President Donald Trump, whose administration helped broker the US TikTok deal. ...

How the TikTok deal could tighten Trump's cultural grip
www.politico.com

... As Trump-friendly billionaires take control of TikTok's U.S. operation, some see the beginnings of a cultural vibe shift' on the platform -- and an echo of changes taking place across the U.S. media landscape. ...

Trump himself expressed hope late Thursday that the deal could cement his place in young voters' hearts.

TikTok "will now be owned by a group of Great American Patriots and Investors, the Biggest in the World, and will be an important Voice," the president wrote on his social media network Truth Social. "Along with other factors, it was responsible for my doing so well with the Youth Vote in the 2024 Presidential Election. I only hope that long into the future I will be remembered by those who use and love TikTok."

Spokespeople for TikTok and the White House did not respond to questions about how the deal could impact TikTok's algorithm or boost right-leaning content on the platform. ...

techcrunch.com

... With the change in TikTok ownership, TikTok users in the U.S. are collectively freaking out over the company's updated privacy policy after being alerted to the changes through an in-app message. The revised document details the U.S. joint venture's conditions for using its service, including the specific location information it may collect. Many users are also posting to social media about language found in the policy, which says that TikTok could collect sensitive information about its users, including their "sexual life or sexual orientation, status as transgender or nonbinary, citizenship or immigration status."

But despite the panic, this disclosure isn't new " and it doesn't mean what many users fear. The same language appeared in TikTok's privacy policy before the ownership deal closed, and it's primarily there to comply with state privacy laws like California's Consumer Privacy Act, which requires companies to agree to disclose to consumers what "sensitive information" is collected. Similar disclosures appear in other social media apps' policies.

To understand why users are concerned -- and why the policy reads this way -- it helps to look at both the current political climate and the legal requirements TikTok is navigating.

Specifically, the policy states that TikTok could process information from users' content or what they may share through surveys, including information about their "racial or ethnic origin, national origin, religious beliefs, mental or physical health diagnosis, sexual life or sexual orientation, status as transgender or nonbinary, citizenship or immigration status, or financial information." ...

Police - Every Breath You Take (1983)
www.youtube.com

Lyrics excerpt ...

genius.com

...
"Every Breath You Take" is, to this day, still perceived to be a love song.

However, the lyrics are actually spoken from a character with sinister intent.

During the time Sting wrote this song, he had just divorced his first wife, Frances Tomelty. While his intention may have been to write a sweet, emotional love song from the beginning, he was soon realizing that he was entering into a dark place that fought for control and surveillance. ...

[Verse 1]
Every breath you take
And every move you make
Every bond you break, every step you take
I'll be watching you

[Verse 2]
Every single day
And every word you say
Every game you play, every night you stay
I'll be watching you
...