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Monday, February 23, 2026

Tag: algorithm
January 22, 2026
William Upton
NatSec
TECH

TikTok Has Finally Been Sold, Ending a Campaign That Spanned Over Half a Decade.

PULSE POINTS

❓WHAT HAPPENED: The sale of the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok to a consortium of U.S.-led investors appears to have been completed.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The Trump administration, ByteDance, TikTok, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Chinese regulators, Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX, and other investors.

📍WHEN & WHERE: The deadline to close the TikTok sale was set for Thursday, January 22, 2026.

🎯IMPACT: TikTok’s U.S. entity is now owned by predominantly U.S.-based organizations, cutting the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliates out of much of the ownership structure.

IN FULL

TikTok announced that its Chinese owner, ByteDance, has sold a majority stake in its U.S. operations to a group of non-Chinese investors. This marks the end of a prolonged legal battle that saw the app banned by Congress and drawn into international politics. The news comes after years of original reporting by The National Pulse on the subject.

The new ownership structure includes Oracle, MGX, Silver Lake, and Michael Dell’s personal investment entity, among others. These investors will hold over 80 percent of the new company, aiming to reduce TikTok’s connections to China and alleviate national security concerns.

The deal, finalized after over a year of negotiations, addresses critical questions about TikTok’s presence in the American market. Without this separation from ByteDance, TikTok faced the possibility of exiting the U.S. market entirely.

Since 2019, various U.S. entities, including universities, military branches, and both the Trump and Biden administrations, have attempted to restrict TikTok’s operations, with the Supreme Court also supporting such efforts. Influencers rallied to defend their platforms, highlighting the app’s role in the tech trade tensions between the U.S. and China.

This agreement not only secures TikTok’s future in the U.S. but also aims to address longstanding security concerns about potential Chinese government interference through the app.

Image by greenwish.

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April 14, 2025
News
UK

Minority Report: Predictive Algorithms Will Be Used to Identify Potential Criminals.

PULSE POINTS:

❓What Happened: An algorithm is being developed to predict which criminals might later commit murder.

👥 Who’s Involved: Britain’s Ministry of Justice, Greater Manchester Police and other British police forces, and civil liberties group Statewatch.

📍 Where & When: The United Kingdom; the project started in January 2023 and is believed to have been completed in December 2024 but is yet to be deployed.

💬 Key Quote: “Time and again, research shows that algorithmic systems for ‘predicting’ crime are inherently flawed,” noted Sofia Lyall from Statewatch.

⚠️ Impact: Concerns about bias and the ethical implications of using such predictive models on vast datasets, including from communities already facing structural discrimination.

IN FULL:

The British Ministry of Justice is advancing in its initiative to create an algorithmic tool aimed at predicting which individuals convicted of crimes might escalate to committing homicide. Known internally as the Homicide Prediction Project, the undertaking emerged through Freedom of Information requests from the civil liberties group Statewatch, which flagged the project as concerning.

Expanding on risk-prediction systems already in place, the project is designed to build upon frameworks such as the Offender Assessment System (OASys), which has been used since 2001 to forecast recidivism and inform legal decisions. However, the broad scope of data in this new model has raised red flags. Data utilized, sourced from various police and government bodies, potentially includes information on up to half a million people, some without any criminal history.

Despite officials’ assertions that the project remains in a research phase, uncovered documents allude to future deployments. Sources claim increased collaboration across government agencies and police forces, such as Greater Manchester Police and the Metropolitan Police, to enhance the dataset driving these predictions.

Statewatch has raised ethical concerns about the predictive model’s potential for systemic bias. The British state has already attempted to introduce guidelines that were explicitly two-tier and would have seen ethnic minorities prioritized for bail over white men in the country.

Statewatch’s Sofia Lyall described the algorithm project as “chilling and dystopian,” calling for an immediate cessation of its development. “Time and again, research shows that algorithmic systems for ‘predicting’ crime are inherently flawed,” he said. She highlighted the risk algorithms pose in creating profiles of potential criminals before any crime is committed.

Image by Rama.

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January 19, 2025
News
TECH
World

European Union Demands X Algorithm Secrets Ahead of German Election.

The European Union (EU) has demanded that tech billionaire Elon Musk reveal the secrets of social media platform X’s algorithm amid an investigation into the company. European regulators announced on Friday—following Musk’s endorsement of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party—that they are intensifying an investigation into X over potential violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA). The pro-censorship law is allegedly designed to combat illegal content and disinformation online.

EU officials in Brussels are requiring the company to submit internal documents concerning its recommendation algorithm and provide data for examining its content moderation strategies. Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission’s executive vice president responsible for tech sovereignty, security, and democracy, claims the bloc wants to ensure compliance with the DSA across all platforms operating within the EU.

The Digital Services Act, enacted in 2022, empowers the EU to demand that social media companies address so-called hate speech, misinformation, and illegal content. Non-compliance can result in fines reaching up to six percent of a company’s global revenue.

The European Union’s pro-censorship actions against X began in 2023 and were led by former EU Commissioner Thierry Breton. Breton, who resigned last year, also threatened Musk before an interview the billionaire had on X with President-elect Donald J. Trump, demanding that Musk should censor the interview.

The increased pressure on X comes as Germany faces a snap national election next month, and support for the populist anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has soared to over 20 percent.

Earlier this month, Elon Musk interviewed AfD co-leader and Chancellor candidate Alice Weidel on X, attracting over 200,000 live viewers. Musk has also written an op-ed for the German newspaper Die Welt praising the AfD.

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The European Union (EU) has demanded that tech billionaire Elon Musk reveal the secrets of social media platform X's algorithm amid an investigation into the company. European regulators announced on Friday—following Musk's endorsement of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party—that they are intensifying an investigation into X over potential violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA). The pro-censorship law is allegedly designed to combat illegal content and disinformation online. show more
June 4, 2024
TECH

NY May Regulate Tech Algorithms That Promote Content To Children.

New York state lawmakers are on the brink of enacting landmark legislation that would bar tech platforms such as Instagram and TikTok from utilizing algorithms to curate social media feeds for users under the age of 18. Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) is reportedly close to an agreement with lawmakers in Albany that would secure the bill’s passage.

The proposed legislation mandates social media companies to display posts chronologically, bypassing algorithm-driven content streams for minors. Proponents believe this change will mitigate the addictive nature of these platforms and reduce the mental health toll on young users. Additionally, the bill aims to halt late-night and early-morning notifications to minors without parental consent.

Governor Hochul criticized social media companies at a recent Albany press event, accusing them of “bombarding young people with these absolutely addictive algorithms.” A corresponding Senate bill echoes similar concerns, arguing that children are particularly vulnerable to the addictive qualities of content algorithms used by social media companies.

The legislation is backed by a bipartisan group of state legislators and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Meanwhile, TechNet — a trade organization representing major tech firms like Google, Meta, and Amazon — has opposed the bill, as has the industry-funded Chamber of Progress.

New York’s move to regulate social media and addictive algorithms follows a similar action in Florida, which requires parental consent for social media use by minors under the age of 14. The National Pulse previously reported that the United Kingdom is considering restricting smartphone sales to children under the age of 16.

The New York legislative session concludes on Thursday, providing a limited window for lawmakers to pass the measure. Should it pass, Governor Hochul is expected to sign it into law, though legal challenges and enforcement issues may follow.

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New York state lawmakers are on the brink of enacting landmark legislation that would bar tech platforms such as Instagram and TikTok from utilizing algorithms to curate social media feeds for users under the age of 18. Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) is reportedly close to an agreement with lawmakers in Albany that would secure the bill's passage. show more