Senator Bernie Sanders sharply criticized President Donald Trump for a deal that will see billionaire Larry Ellison and a group of right‑wing investors gain significant influence over the popular social media platform TikTok, calling it a sign of entrenched corporate power in the United States. “Thanks to Trump, right‑wing multibillionaire Larry Ellison will now control the TikTok algorithm, along with: CBS, MTV, The Free Press, BET, CMT, Simon & Schuster, Nickelodeon, Paramount+, Pluto TV and more. This is what oligarchy looks like,” Sanders wrote on social media, framing the arrangement as the consolidation of media influence in the hands of wealthy individuals. 

Thanks to Trump, right-wing multibillionaire Larry Ellison will now control the TikTok algorithm, along with:

CBS
MTV
The Free Press
BET
CMT
Simon & Schuster
Nickelodeon
Paramount+
Pluto TV
and more

This is what Oligarchy looks like.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 26, 2026

Sanders’s critique comes amid a broader debate over a Trump‑brokered agreement to keep TikTok operating in the United States after years of legislative and political pressure to sever the Chinese‑owned company’s ties to the U.S. market. Under a deal finalized this month, TikTok’s U.S. operations will be restructured so that a majority‑American investor group holds controlling interests, including oversight of the algorithm that determines what users see in their feeds. The agreement places Oracle, the software company led by Ellison, among the key investors and board members of the new entity. 

While the deal was crafted to avoid a nationwide ban and address national security concerns, critics like Sanders argue it represents a deeper problem of concentrated power in media and technology. Sanders has long warned about the influence of wealthy corporate leaders on public discourse and democratic institutions, including in his earlier report on “Big Tech oligarchs” and warnings about automation and AI harming workers. 

Sanders has also previously taken aim at Trump’s broader political agenda, criticizing the president’s positions on Europe, Greenland and domestic policy. In earlier remarks, he described Trump’s approaches as part of a pattern of undermining free media and democratic norms, tying them to what he views as authoritarian tendencies. In that context, Sanders said Trump’s hostility to strong democratic institutions extends from foreign policy to how information is disseminated at home.

Together, we must defend democracy and defeat authoritarianism. pic.twitter.com/rYaow0UuO2

— Sen. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 21, 2026

The TikTok agreement has attracted attention beyond Sanders’s criticism. Lawmakers and experts have raised national security questions about whether the new structure fully insulates the U.S. version of the platform from foreign influence, given that ByteDance will retain a minority stake and the deal’s algorithm arrangements are still being finalized. 

Sanders’s social media post reflects a broader critique from some political figures who see the combination of tech platforms and billionaire control as a threat to democratic engagement and media plurality, even as supporters of the deal argue it preserves access to a widely used platform while addressing security issues.