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The clock is still ticking Tik Tok. You may have noticed that some of the videos posted on the popular social media site were counting down to December 16 – Tuesday of this week. This was the date on which TikTok users expected the latest ban to take effect. But that didn’t happen. For the fifth time since the beginning of his second term last January. President Donald Trump It extended the deadline to block the site unless it sells its Chinese ownership.
Chinese technology company ByteDance owns TikTok. In 2024, President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Censored Apps from Foreign Adversaries Act, bipartisan legislation that mandates the sale of the video-sharing platform ByteDance. This is due to US national security concerns about the Chinese government potentially accessing data through TikTok’s parent company.
ByteDance has not finalized the sale of TikTok’s US business, meaning the app ban was supposed to go into effect. The platform disappeared in January, a day before January 20, Trump’s inauguration day, but was revived under a 75-day extension granted by Trump. The President has continued to kick the can down the road. April 4 was the first delay date, followed by June 19 and December 16.
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The December 16 deadline for the ban was canceled on September 25, when Trump signed an executive order delaying the sale by 120 days, extending the ban until January 23, 2026. As part of that executive order, Trump announced the $14 billion sale of TikTok’s US commercial arm to a group of technology investors, including Oracle’s chief technology officer, Larry Ellison. The deal requires approval from Chinese authorities.
Larry Ellison isn’t the only Ellison in the news lately. His son, David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount Global, recently took action Hostile takeover attempt For Warner Bros. Discovery in an attempt to bypass the previously agreed-upon Netflix deal.
Messages from Washington continue to highlight TikTok as a threat to Americans’ privacy and a propaganda tool for China. Beijing has been hesitant about giving up control of the app’s powerful algorithm. The video-sharing platform has become a bargaining chip in talks with the United States on other issues important to China, such as Trump’s tough trade restrictions.
A TikTok ban is now set for January. Will that happen? This is anyone’s guess. But if you’re a student of history, it’s safe to say that your “For You” page will likely still be offering cute cat videos and amateur dances for some time to come.