The White House has announced a “framework” for a TikTok deal, but a new Financial Times story has indicated a potential danger zone: TikTok’s algorithm. Sources have told the FT that this framework will include “licensing the algorithm and other intellectual property rights” from ByteDance, TikTok’s current owner. Depending on how the deal is written, licensing the algorithm could give the Chinese Community Party considerable leverage over American politics — and deal a major blow to the project of combating political radicalism at home.

TikTok’s highly addictive algorithm at times served as an engine for radicalism in American politics, boosting antisemitism and apologia for political violence. In the days since Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the app has been deluged with videos celebrating his murder. The videos rejoicing at Kirk’s death, justifying the assassination of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and calling for political violence risk creating a kind of mimetic solidarity among social media addicts. Continually absorbing such gory extremism, those hooked by the algorithm grow to see such apocalyptic violence as normal, even morally necessary. Right now, some activists on the right are essentially playing retributory whack-a-mole — seeking to fire a nurse here or a teacher there for some inflammatory comment. But, in the TikTok deal, the Trump administration has a chance to tackle one of the major vectors of political radicalization directly.

Congress has given the president the power (in fact, the mandate) to ban the app if ByteDance continues to control it. President Trump has so far delayed enforcement, but that current delay expires on Wednesday. This gives the administration considerable leverage to ensure that ByteDance will no longer control TikTok’s algorithm. The White House has the power to ensure that Americans will no longer be exposed to the current algorithm, either by making a deal that transfers TikTok and its algorithm out of ByteDance’s control or by banning the app in the United States.

It’s telling that TikTok is banned in the People’s Republic of China itself; Beijing no doubt wants to insulate its regime from the toxic nature of the TikTok algorithm. Letting a PRC-linked entity keep control of that algorithm would essentially be throwing America’s doors open to a continued influx of digital fentanyl.