What’s happening with TikTok? One week after Trump takes office…

by | Jan 27, 2025 | E-commerce News

Last week I reported that the US Supreme Court unanimously upheld the federal law mandating that TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divest its US operations by January 19, 2025, or face a ban in the United States. 

On Saturday (Jan 18th), ByteDance subsequently shut down service in the US to TikTok and its other apps including CapCut, Lemon8, Gauth, and Marvel Snap. 

However by Sunday (Jan 19th), TikTok began restoring its services after Trump said he would revive the app's access in the US when he returns to power on Monday. Trump said he would “extend the period of time before the law's prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security” — but the catch is that Trump wants TikTok to operate under 50% US ownership in a joint venture. 

Here's what's happened since then: 

  • On his first day in office, President Trump came through on his promise and signed an executive order delaying the enforcement of the TikTok ban for 75 days, providing additional time to negotiate a resolution.
  • Despite President Trump's executive order delaying the enforcement of the TikTok ban, Apple and Google have not reinstated TikTok in their US app stores because they don't want to risk the $5k fine, per user, for violating the law if Trump's executive order doesn't withstand the test of time.
  • Consequently, new downloads and updates of the app remain unavailable for US users.
  • As a result, people are selling smartphones with TikTok pre-installed on platforms like eBay and Facebook Marketplace for thousands of dollars!
  • Initially, Beijing was opposed to a forced sale of TikTok. However, recent reports suggest that Chinese officials are now more open to the idea, especially if it helps prevent a nationwide ban in the US.
  • Several parties have expressed interest in acquiring TikTok's US operations, including Perplexity AI which submitted a revised merger proposal to ByteDance, suggesting the creation of a new entity where the US government could own up to a 50% stake post-IPO.
  • There have also been discussion about a proposal where Oracle and American investors would manage TikTok's US operations, with ByteDance retaining a stake.

I'll keep you posted in the coming weeks as the story progresses. 

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