TikTok Ban Live Updates: Trump Halts Ban For 75 Days—After CEO Attends Inauguration
It's reporting the current status of the ban in the United States on TikTok based on some major developments.
- Trump Pushes Ban Postponement: President Donald Trump asked the federal government to postpone the nationwide ban on TikTok for 75 days. It would give the Chinese company that owns TikTok, ByteDance, a chance to sell a share of the app or reach an agreement with the U.S. government. Trump clarified that the U.S. must own 50% of TikTok.
- TikTok's Short Censorship: Over the weekend, TikTok effectively shut itself off for more than 12 hours for users in the U.S. before Trump indicated no punishment to service providers, and then resumed.
- Inauguration Power Play: TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew joined other prominent attendees including Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook to Trump's inauguration, an event central to debates over TikTok's future in the U.S.
- Bipartisan support for ban: In a law passed last year, TikTok must be barred unless ByteDance sells to an American company. The temporary move by Trump provides time for a solution-possibly a joint venture with the U.S. in charge.
- Legislative Obstacle: Some legislators feel that the ban should be done in the form of policy, while others feel that not enough time is being given to a solution where not only national security but also data privacy of the users is solved.
- Potential Acquiring Company: According to analysts, among the U.S. companies that supposedly considered taking over TikTok are Amazon, Oracle, and Microsoft; the structure "is too complicated for ByteDance to break up.".
- National Security Issues: The U.S. government has been concerned with national security issues about TikTok because it believes the Chinese government may misuse it for espionage purposes. TikTok has denied these allegations and promised to do all the necessary things to protect user data.
The situation remains fluid as Trump's administration looks for a long-term resolution.
