Latest news with #USBan
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
TikTok building new US app as Trump says deal 'pretty much' done with American buyer
TikTok could soon have a work around to avoid a looming US ban of its video sharing app. The app's China-based owner, ByteDance, is developing a replacement app intended for US-based users, the Information reported on Sunday, citing sources familiar with the plan. President Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday that he planned to discuss TikTok's fate with Chinese officials on Monday or Tuesday this week, according to multiple reports. Trump said the US had 'pretty much' worked out a deal to carry out the app's sale. Chinese officials declined to confirm a deal was in place, CNN reported. TikTok did not respond to a request for comment. According to The Information, an alternate version of the app could become available in US app stores starting September 5, if TikTok sells its US operations to a group of non-Chinese investors. Congress initially passed a law effectively banning TikTok in 2024, legislation signed by former President Biden. The legislation prohibited TikTok from operating in the US unless it divests its ownership to a US- or US-allied-country by Jan. 20. Without such a divestment, US cloud providers such as Oracle and app stores, including Apple's and Google's respective app stores are banned from hosting the service. Trump has used executive orders to suspend the deadline three times since January, after it briefly went offline just before Trump took office. The Trump administration assured cloud and app store companies that they would not face fines while the deadline is extended. Trump last extended the TikTok ban in a June 19 executive order that granted another 90-day reprieve, pushing the deadline to September 17, 2025. On Air Force One on Friday Trump again told reporters what he has said previously about TikTok's authority to divest its US operations. According to reports, the president said Chinese President Xi Jinping would likely need to sign off on such an accord. "I'm not confident, but I think so," the president said when asked if it was likely that a deal would be reached. The prospect of a TikTok sale has garnered interest from a number of potential suitors. Acquiring the app would likely come with a hefty price tag, as TikTok's value has been estimated at as much as $50 billion. A group of investors led by billionaire Frank McCourt Jr. has expressed interest in buying the app, as have Microsoft (MSFT), internet personality Mr. Beast, Oracle (ORCL) co-founder Larry Ellison, and AI chatbot developer, Perplexity AI. The continued effort for the US to reach a divestment also comes as the US continues to work through a potential trade deal with China following Trump's initial tariff increase, and subsequent pause, on levies on goods made in the country. TikTok previously tried to fight the Biden-era US law banning the app by taking its battle to the Supreme Court. But the court sided with the government's argument that the app could pose a national security threat. US officials have for years argued that the Chinese government could use TikTok to spread propaganda or gather information on US users, which it could then use to blackmail them in the future. Officials haven't publicly shared evidence of the danger. According to the Associated Press, China was prepared to sign off on a TikTok deal but pulled back after Trump unveiled the tariffs in April. Trump has also said any sale would likely come after the two countries reach some kind of trade agreement. Trump initially called for a ban on TikTok during his first term in office but changed his stance during the 2024 election, saying that it serves as a bulwark against Meta's (META) social media dominance. Got a tip? Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@ Follow him on X at @DanielHowley. Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on X @alexiskweed. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Independent
07-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
How TikTok plans to get around the US ban
TikTok is reportedly developing a new, separate application specifically for its US users, with a planned launch in September. This development comes amid a potential US ban on the video-sharing platform unless its parent company, ByteDance, sells its American operations. A sale agreement is said to be in place, with the new app expected to be available in US app stores from 5 September. Donald Trump has stated that the United States "pretty much" has a deal regarding TikTok's sale and will engage in discussions with China. The controversy surrounding TikTok centres on national security concerns, including allegations that ByteDance could manipulate content or misuse user data.
Tahawul Tech
23-06-2025
- Business
- Tahawul Tech
Trump Administration extends TikTok sale deadline
President Donald Trump recently gave China-based ByteDance its third extension to sell its U.S. TikTok assets to a local entity. 'I've just signed the Executive Order extending the Deadline for the TikTok closing for 90 days (September 17, 2025). Thank you for your attention to this matter!' he said in a Truth Social post, which included a copy of the document. '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 and 7.5 million U.S. businesses that rely on the platform as we continue to work with Vice President [JD] Vance's office', TikTok said in a statement posted on its website. After the platform briefly stopped working in January, President Trump delayed a proposed ban by 75 days by signing the initial executive order during his first day as President in January. Trump granted another reprieve when he signed another executive order in early April. TikTok unsuccessfully appealed US legislation passed in 2024 to ban the service unless a local buyer was found, after former President Joe Biden and members of both political parties expressed concern that it posed a national security risk. The US Supreme Court upheld the Biden era law banning the app unless it is sold to a US owner. Source: Reuters/ Mobile World Live Image Credit: Stock Image/TikTok
GSM Arena
18-06-2025
- Business
- GSM Arena
Trump delays TikTok ban by another 90 days
Back in 2024, US Congress passed a law to ban TikTok unless parent company ByteDance divested most of its US-based operations with 80% going to companies headquartered in the US. The US Supreme Court upheld that law, but it really only resulted in a blip – a 13-hour blackout. Soon after returning to office, President Trump gave TikTok a 75-day grace period and then another and when that ran out, Trump pushed the ban back by 90 days. Perhaps it wouldn't surprise you to learn that has been another delay – a new executive order has given TikTok 90 more days to reach a deal. To be fair, plenty of would-be buyers have been circling, from Amazon to MrBeast, and a deal was close to being finalized. Reuters reported in early April that a deal was approved by new and existing investors and even by the US government and ByteDance itself – however, that deal fell through in the wake of Trump's tariff war with China. TikTok introduced the 'MVPs of POV' program earlier this month So, now investors have until mid-September to woo ByteDance and work out another deal. According to the law, 80% of TikTok's US operations should be owned by US investors, while the remaining 20% will be retained by ByteDance. A crucial stumbling block that would have to be overcome by any deal is that it would have to be approved by the Chinese government. TikTok has become a bargaining chip in the US-China trade war, so any deal is in danger of falling through due to external factors. Source
The Verge
17-06-2025
- Business
- The Verge
Trump is giving TikTok another ban extension
For the third time, President Donald Trump will extend the deadline for TikTok to spin out from its Chinese parent company or face a US ban. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed in a statement Tuesday that Trump will sign an executive order this week extending the deadline another 90 days, landing the new deadline in mid-September. The Trump administration will spend the next 90 days 'working to ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure,' Leavitt said. The extension, first signed on January 20th, theoretically offers legal cover for TikTok's US service providers who are subject to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act from the hundreds of billions in penalties they could face for keeping the app online and in US app stores. But that legal cover was already shaky given that Trump's extensions are not codified into the law, which was passed overwhelmingly by a bipartisan vote in Congress, and upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court. As The Verge previously reported, ByteDance and an Oracle-led coalition had nearly hammered out a deal in April, but Trump's tariffs abruptly blew up the tentative agreement. While trade tensions between the US and China have simmered down, there's been no recent news about resurrecting that deal or another one. Even when a sale seemed likely, it was unclear whether China would allow ByteDance to sell the valuable algorithm that powers TikTok's video recommendations. 'The whole thing is a sham if the algorithm doesn't move from out of Beijing's hands' Several lawmakers, including those who've criticized a divest-or-ban law for TikTok and ByteDance, have warned that Trump's repeated extensions are untenable and illegal. After Trump's last extension in April, Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-VA) told The Verge the move was 'against the law' and said 'the whole thing is a sham if the algorithm doesn't move from out of Beijing's hands.' Even before the second extension, Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Cory Booker (D-NJ), who oppose a ban of TikTok, wrote Trump that it would be 'unacceptable and unworkable for your Administration to continue ignoring the requirements in the law.' They warned, 'any further extensions of the TikTok deadline will require Oracle, Apple, Google, and other companies to continue risking ruinous legal liability, a difficult decision to justify in perpetuity.' That's because TikTok service providers in the US can be fined for facilitating access to the app after the ban deadline, and Trump's extensions fall outside of the mechanisms allowed for in the law. So far, however, these companies appear to be relying on assurances from the administration that they won't be sued for keeping TikTok online, although it reportedly took a letter from the US attorney general herself to assuage Apple and Google's concerns. A court could evaluate whether Trump's actions are legal, but only if somebody sues to stop the extension — and so far, nobody has. Earlier this month, though, a Google shareholder filed a lawsuit against the company for allegedly failing to share internal records about its decision to flout the law under the Justice Department's assurances. The same shareholder had already filed suit against the DOJ for allegedly failing to share information about its decision not to enforce the law against Apple and Google. While members of Trump's party generally haven't gone so far as to call his extensions illegal, a dozen House Republicans said in a statement in April that 'any resolution must ensure that U.S. law is followed, and that the Chinese Communist Party does not have access to American user data or the ability to manipulate the content consumed by Americans.' Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) told reporters that month that Trump 'ought to enforce the statute and ban TikTok. This middle way, I don't think is viable.' But it's not clear what would prevent Trump from approving indefinite extensions or a deal that doesn't meet the letter of the law. As Hawley acknowledged while speaking to reporters in April, 'Congress, we don't have an enforcement arm of our own.'
