After multiple delays of the TikTok ban, president Trump once again pushes back the ban of TikTok to Dec. 16 of this year. President Trump and the president of China, Xi Jinping have agreed to a framework between American and Chinese negotiators. This means that ByteDance, the parent company of Tiktok has agreed to sell some ownership. The agreement took place on Sept. 16, meaning that there will be a three month delay for the deadline.
Previous delays (all in this year) happened on Jan. 20, April 4, and June 19. The ban was discussed last year and concluded with the confirmation of a ban in the U.S. unless ownership is given to American investors. The bill was passed by previous president Biden in April of last year, which brought ByteDance under pressure. Its first delay was on Jan. 20, and 3 more delays that brought us to where we are today.
The community of TikTok has expressed disappointment at the news of the ban, particularly influencers because of income loss, and expressed endless amounts of gratitude for the delays. Normal users have also expressed disappointment as they have enjoyed using the platform. Many and others criticize the ban, believing that TikTok and its parent company aren’t much of a security threat as they collect and sell user data just as other large social media platforms.
Despite the multiple delays of the ban, the future of TikTok in America is very uncertain, as ByteDance has previously been persistent in not selling TikTok’s U.S. operations, leading to extremely tight standards. Large offerers Oracle, Kevin O’Leary, MrBeast, and many others have tried, but most ultimately have failed. The recent framework agreement is an important step in TikTok’s journey in America, but the final agreement hasn’t been reached yet and is open to further discussion.
