This is an IHeart podcast.

Guaranteed Human.

This information is being put in the hands of a government that seeks to actively harm those people.

There are no girls on the internet as a production of IHeart Radio and Unbossed Creative.

I'm Bridget Todd, and this is There Are No Girls on the Internet.

TikTok is now officially operating under American ownership for users in the United States.

And that shift is happening at a moment when a lot of people are already feeling angry, scared,

and on edge, including in the wake of yet another killing at the hands of ICE in Minnesota.

So for people who use TikTok to document abuse, organize, or speak out about what's happening in their communities, this timing matters.

And a lot of us aren't really trusting that a TikTok operating under this new American ownership and working hand and glove with the Trump administration is going to protect our ability to speak freely about real issues,

especially when those issues involve state violence or dissent.

According to CNBC, TikTok users have been deleting the app at a higher rate since the company announced its U.S. operations.

The daily average of users deleting TikTok in the U.S. has increased nearly 150% over the past five days compared

with the previous three months. Now there's been no shortage of warnings, rumors, and worst

case scenarios about what this new era of TikTok might actually mean. So rather than speculate,

I wanted to get clear on what's actually happening and what isn't.

To help separate fact from fear, I turned to an expert.

My name is Jessica Maddox, and I am an associate professor of media studies at the University

of Georgia.

Jess has been using her own social media platforms to try and educate people about what this new leadership at TikTok actually means.

So, Jess, you're a social media expert, not in the way that I sometimes say I am.

Like, you literally have a PhD in this.

...