As a deal to split off TikTok’s U.S. business is set to be finalized between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, antisemitism experts expressed mixed views over how likely the agreement will be in transforming the social media platform’s approach when it comes to combating the spread of antisemitism in its algorithm. 

Among the expected new owners of TikTok is technology company Oracle, which has Jewish ownership and has consistently expressed support for Israel. “We are optimistic about this moment,” Eric Fingerhut, CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, said while moderating a panel discussion on Tuesday about the deal, hosted at the organization’s headquarters in Washington. 

The panel featured Sarah O’Quinn, U.S. director of public affairs at the Center for Countering Digital Hate; Daniel Kelley, director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center for Technology and Society; and Yair Rosenberg, a staff writer at The Atlantic. 

Last month, Trump signed an executive order paving the way to keep TikTok operating in the U.S. under a new corporate structure with American ownership. Specific terms of the deal have not yet been made public. The agreement follows the bipartisan passage of legislation last year of a national security bill, which gave the U.S. government power to ban or sell apps controlled by foreign adversaries, such as TikTok. 

While the government has said the deal will protect Americans from Chinese influence, as TikTok’s parent company is beholden to the Chinese government, JFNA advocated for the bill’s passage last year in hopes that changing TikTok’s ownership would reduce the spread of antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric seen on the app. According to JFNA, those who use TikTok for over 30 minutes a day are 17 percent more likely to hold antisemitic or anti-Israel views, compared to six percent on Instagram and two percent on X. Last year, antisemitic comments on TikTok spiked 912 percent from the previous year.  

“The part that makes us most optimistic is the parties that seem to be associated with the deal on the American side, especially Larry Ellison [the co-founder] of Oracle, have been such strong supporters of the [Jewish] community,” said Fingerhut. 

“When people ask, ‘Why would the Jewish Federations of North America be involved in an issue like the TikTok bill?’ our answer was simple,” continued Fingerhut. “The number one issue we’re hearing from our communities is the responsibility to address the rise of antisemitism, particularly that’s being directed at our young people, and there’s no way you can do that without tackling the problem on social media, and TikTok was the largest and worst offender.”

But Rosenberg and Kelley remained skeptical about the deal’s ability to mitigate online hate — stressing the virality algorithms on TikTok and other platforms have demonstrated when showing antisemitic or anti-Israel content. 

“TikTok’s entire value is actually tied up in its algorithm, this black box that decides what people see on the app,” said Rosenberg. “That algorithm makes all of its money. That is what makes it valuable. That’s what makes it more popular and better than many other platforms … I think that there are some deep and fundamental problems that changing ownership of one particular social media platform can’t really address. The biggest thing for TikTok will be this question over the algorithm.” 

Kelley said, “We can’t look at TikTok alone as the arbiter of antisemitism. I think we have to place it in the context of a huge backwards trend in terms of addressing antisemitism online.”

O’Quinn echoed Fingerhut’s sense of cautious optimism around the deal, saying, “when it comes to the state of tech and platform accountability in the United States, because we live in a completely unregulated space, weight from elected officials, and then also from constituents, is the most important thing that we really have to hold these platforms accountable.” 

She said the biggest concern around TikTok, versus other online platforms, is that it’s designed for young people. “That is where you’re seeing — even in our internal data — that is where you’re seeing the most likely group to be falling for or believing antisemitic tropes.”

O’Quinn went on: “For Oracle to say this is their first time entering a social media platform, unlike other platforms, it is really for young people that are using this platform, and is there going to be a responsibility here? I think that we’re going to see very soon what kind of commitment is going to be made to American youth.”

Even with TikTok’s new leadership, O’Quinn called for “more oversight from these social media platforms, all across the board.”