Last weekend, US President Donald Trump extended the 5 April deadline for TikTok to sell its assets to a US owner or face a nationwide ban, the second time he has postponed the ultimatum facing the popular Chinese-owned social media platform since returning to office. The delay followed a desperate scramble between ByteDance (TikTok’s Chinese parent company), prospective buyers and the administration to reach a deal. TikTok is not short on admirers: with over 135 million active users in the US, for many Americans, TikTok is the go-to platform for news, culture and entertainment. But the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act – passed with bipartisan support in April 2024 – issued a firm ultimatum to the platform: sell up, or be banned, citing significant threats to national security. Taking place against the backdrop of the intensifying US-China technology race, the order comes after years of US concern over Chinese-owned platforms and technologies. These constraints reflect a longstanding US policy belief shared by President Trump: that domestic control over digital platforms and emerging technologies helps guarantee safety, security, prosperity and sovereignty. Trump even suggested that the TikTok deal could be used as a bargaining chip in tariff negotiations.
US ownership of TikTok won’t protect democracies from digital threats (Isabella Wilkinson, Rowan Wilkinson – Chatham House)
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