Trump gives TikTok 90 more days to avoid US ban
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump announced Thursday he had given social media platform TikTok another 90 days to find a non-Chinese buyer or be banned in the United States.
"I've just signed the Executive Order extending the Deadline for the TikTok closing for 90 days (September 17, 2025)," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, putting off the ban for the third time.
A federal law requiring TikTok's sale or ban on national security grounds was due to take effect the day before Trump's January inauguration.
The Republican, whose 2024 election campaign relied heavily on social media, has previously said he is fond of the video-sharing app.
"I have a little warm spot in my heart for TikTok," Trump said in an NBC News interview in early May. "If it needs an extension, I would be willing to give it an extension."
TikTok on Thursday welcomed Trump's decision.
"We are grateful for President Trump's leadership and support in ensuring that TikTok continues to be available for more than 170 million American users," the platform said in a statement.
Motivated by a belief in Washington that TikTok is controlled by the Chinese government, the ban took effect on Jan 19, one day before Trump's inauguration, with ByteDance having made no attempt to find a suitor.
TikTok "has become a symbol of the US-China tech rivalry; a flashpoint in the new Cold War for digital control," said Shweta Singh, an assistant professor of information systems at Warwick Business School in Britain.
Trump had long supported a ban or divestment, but reversed his position and vowed to defend the platform – which boasts almost two billion global users – after coming to believe it helped him win young voters' support in the November election.
The president announced an initial 75-day delay of the ban upon taking office. A second extension pushed the deadline to June 19.
He said in May that a group of purchasers was ready to pay TikTok owner ByteDance "a lot of money" for the video-clip-sharing sensation's US operations.
Trump knows that TikTok is "wildly popular" in the United States, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday, when asked about the latest extension.
"He also wants to protect Americans' data and privacy concerns on this app, and he believes we can do both things at the same time."
The president is "just not motivated to do anything about TikTok," said independent analyst Rob Enderle. "Unless they get on his bad side, TikTok is probably going to be in pretty good shape."
Trump said in April that China would have agreed to a deal on the sale of TikTok if it were not for a dispute over his tariffs on Beijing.
ByteDance has confirmed talks with the US government, saying key matters needed to be resolved and that any deal would be "subject to approval under Chinese law."
Possible solutions reportedly include seeing existing US investors in ByteDance roll over their stakes into a new independent global TikTok company.
Additional US investors, including Oracle and private equity firm Blackstone, would be brought on to reduce ByteDance's share in the new TikTok.
Much of TikTok's US activity is already housed on Oracle servers, and the company's chairman, Larry Ellison, is a longtime Trump ally.
Uncertainty remains, particularly over what would happen to TikTok's valuable algorithm.
"TikTok without its algorithm is like Harry Potter without his wand – it's simply not as powerful," said Kelsey Chickering, principal analyst at Forrester.
Despite the turmoil, TikTok has been continuing with business as usual.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malaysian Reserve
24 minutes ago
- Malaysian Reserve
Social media ban moves closer in Australia after tech trial
AUSTRALIA'S world-first social media ban for under-16s moved closer to implementation after a key trial found that checking a user's age is technologically possible and can be integrated into existing services. The conclusions are a blow to Facebook-owner Meta Platforms Inc., TikTok and Snap Inc., which opposed the controversial legislation. Some platform operators had questioned whether a user's age could be reliably established using current technology. The results of the government-backed trial clear the way for the law to come into force by the end of the year. The findings also potentially allow other jurisdictions to follow Australia's lead as countries around the world grapple with ways to protect children from harmful content online. 'Age assurance can be done in Australia and can be private, robust and effective,' the government-commissioned Age Assurance Technology Trial said in a statement Friday announcing its preliminary findings. The trial's project director, Tony Allen, said there were 'no significant technological barriers' to stopping under-16s gaining social media accounts. 'These solutions are technically feasible, can be integrated flexibly into existing services and can support the safety and rights of children online,' he said. Under the new law, digital platforms including Snapchat, Meta-owned Instagram, and X will be responsible for enforcing the age limit, with penalties of as much as A$50 million ($32 million) for breaches. The trial tested a range of methods and technologies, including facial scans, inferring a user's age based on their behavior, age verification, as well as parental controls. The tests also took into account the ways teenagers might try to circumvent age checks. 'We found a plethora of approaches that fit different use cases in different ways, but we didn't find a single ubiquitous solution that would suit all use cases,' the trial said in its statement. More than 50 companies participated in the trial, while Apple Inc. and Google, developers of the most popular mobile-phone operating systems, are also contributing, Allen said on a video conference call on Friday. The trial didn't assess public acceptance for any particular technology or the costs involved. The accuracy of the different methods, for example the margin of error for facial analysis, wasn't made available. –BLOOMBERG
New Straits Times
30 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
China, EU discussed trade remedies, better ties, Chinese commerce ministry says
BEIJING: China's and the European Union's trade chiefs had in-depth talks on trade remedy cases such as for electric vehicles, export control and market access, a statement from the Chinese commerce ministry said on Friday. China and the EU also agreed to promote the healthy and stable development of economic and trade relations, the ministry said of the talks held in a video call on Thursday between China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic.
New Straits Times
30 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
Middle East worries, portfolio inflow hopes feed rupee bears and bulls alike
MUMBAI: Lingering concerns over a potential escalation in the Iran-Israel conflict, coupled with expectations of portfolio inflows, are fuelling mixed views on the rupee's trajectory for the coming week, traders said. A spike in oil prices from a potential escalation in the conflict could weigh on the rupee, but an upcoming large IPO expected to draw foreign inflows may help recoup recent losses, they added. The rupee has declined a little over one per cent so far this month, with a large portion of its drop occurring after Israel attacked targets in Iran last Friday. The attacks also raised concerns about disruption of global oil supplies, sending Brent crude oil futures to a five-month peak of US$79 per barrel, hit on Thursday. The currency hit a three-month low on Thursday but eased 0.10 per cent to 86.63 as of 11:05am on Friday, supported by a dip in oil prices after the White House said President Donald Trump will decide in the next two weeks whether the US will become involved in the Israel-Iran air war. Meanwhile, expectations that Indian lender HDB Financial's US$1.5 billion IPO is likely to draw sizeable inflows are seen as a positive for the rupee, a trader at a private bank said. The trader pointed out that he would prefer to keep tight stop-losses on speculative positions since the risk of two-way moves next week could be elevated. On the technical front, the dollar-rupee pair is "nearing overbought territory, with a possible dip toward 86.35–85.95 before resuming an uptrend toward 87.80–88.00," FX advisory firm Mecklai Financial said in a Friday note. On the day, most Asian currencies ticked up as well, with the Korean won leading gains. The dollar index eased below the 99 handle, while India's benchmark equity indexes, the BSE Sensex and Nifty 50, rose about 0.90 per cent each.
