TikTok could soon disappear in the United States and while Democrat lawmakers are trying to prevent that from happening, Republicans are not as keen.
Unless the platform’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, sells TikTok to a U.S.-based company by Sunday, January 19, the app will go dark for millions of U.S. users. However, President Joe Biden does not plan to enforce the ban, which as it stands would go into effect on the last full day of his presidency, the Associated Press reports.
The Supreme Court is also set to release a decision at 10 a.m. on Friday. While it’s unclear which case it will pertain to, they may rule on whether to uphold the TikTok ban.
Meanwhile, the same Democrats who voted to force TikTok to divest from ByteDance within nine months or no longer be operable on U.S. servers like the App Store and Google are now trying to give the platform more time to survive. So far, Republicans have blocked legislation once.
TikTok is used by more than 170 million people each month in the U.S. but has faced intense scrutiny over national security concerns due to ByteDance’s proximity to the Chinese government, which the U.S. considers a foreign adversary.
Watch: Democrat leader promise to work with Trump administration on TikTok
Ariana Baio17 January 2025 05:00
TikTok influencer reacts to potential ban: ‘It might be great. It might be awful.’
As President Biden signs the TikTok ban bill into law, giving the app’s China-based parent company nine months to sell, fashion influencer Bridget Brown explains uncertainty she feels around the future of her career.
Read more from Kaleigh Werner:
Kaleigh Werner17 January 2025 03:00
Biden will not enforce TikTok ban, AP reports
President Joe Biden does not plan to enforce the ban on TikTok that is set to take effect Sunday, the last full day of his presidency, according to a Thursday night report from the Associated Press.
This means the fate of the app will be in President-elect Donald Trump’s hands when he takes office on Monday, January 20.
“Our interpretation of the law that Congress passed is that absent a credible plan from the company on how they will divest, the President does not have statutory authority to trigger the 90 day extension,” a senior White House official told Politico. “The company has not only not advanced such a plan, they have signaled they have no intention of selling it to an American owner.”
“Given the timing of when it goes into effect over a holiday weekend a day before inauguration, it will be up to the next administration to implement,” the official added.
Katie Hawkinson17 January 2025 01:41
Biden administration unlikely to intervene before Sunday
Though lawmakers have tried to lobby President Joe Biden to sign a 90-day extension to the TikTok ban, preventing the popular platform from going dark, the White House signaled it won’t do so.
“Our position on this has been clear: TikTok should continue to operate under American ownership. Given the timing of when it goes into effect over a holiday weekend a day before inauguration, it will be up to the next administration to implement,” a White House official told ABC News.
Ariana Baio17 January 2025 01:00
TikTok CEO to attend Trump’s inauguration as app’s fate hangs in the balance
TikTok CEO Shou Chew may not have a social media platform to run by Sunday but he is still invited to, and expected to attend, Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration on Monday in Washington D.C.
Ariana Baio16 January 2025 23:00
Preparing to flee TikTok, users begin learning Mandarin
Duolingo has seen a 216 percent increase in the number of users learning Mandarin compared to this time last year – a sign that young people are willing to learn the language that is widely spoken on platforms alternative to TikTok.
RedNote (Xiaohongshu) has exploded in popularity due to the looming TikTok ban. But it’s designed for a Chinese audience, so the app’s default language is Mandarin Chinese. This has apparently prompted people to learn some of the language so they can use the app.
Ariana Baio16 January 2025 22:20
Supreme Court will announce opinions at 10am on Friday
The Supreme Court is expected to announce at least one opinion at 10 a.m. on Friday – which could potentially be a decision in the TikTok ban case.
The court does not reveal what cases they are making a decision on ahead of time but they signaled they wanted to intervene in the TikTok dispute before the ban takes effect on Sunday, January 19.
Ariana Baio16 January 2025 21:42
‘TikTok’s owners had plenty of time’: Republicans push back on attempts to extend deadline
Republicans blocked legislation that would give TikTok more time to secure a buyer, or at the very least, allow President-elect Donald Trump to handle the potential ban.
“TikTok’s owners had plenty of time to find a buyer. And there were plenty of willing buyers as well,” Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas said after blocking Democrat Senator Ed Markey’s attempt.
TikTok had nine months from the passage of legislation to divest from ByteDance, a Chinese company.
Ariana Baio16 January 2025 21:00
Democrat Senators ask Biden to extend deadline by 90 days
Democrat Senators Ed Markey of Connecticut and Cory Booker of New Jersey said they have asked President Joe Biden to extend TikTok’s deadline by 90 days to give the social media platform more time to work out a deal.
“In no way should we have TikTok go dark Sunday,” Markey said, according to a report. “It would be catastrophic for so many creators.”
Markey and Booker are among the 60 Senators who voted in favor of the legislation that forces TikTok to be sold or banned by January 19.
The senators are asking Biden to enact the 90-day extension that is a provision of the legislation. Doing so would keep TikTok alive until President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump has promised to “save” TikTok.
Ariana Baio16 January 2025 20:20
Democrat leader in Senate fights to extend TikTok ban deadline
“We aren’t against TikTok. We Want TikTok to keep going,” Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader, told reporters on Thursday. “But we are against a Chinese company that is in cahoots with the Chinese Communist Party owning TikTok.”
It was an ironic point of clarification from the Senator, whose party has been trying to extend the TikTok ban so the popular social media platform doesn’t go dark on Sunday.
Schumer was among the 60 senators who voted in favor of passing the legislation last April which forced TikTok to be sold or become inoperable in the U.S.
But they’ve seemingly softened their stance on TikTok – now trying to save young people from losing access to their favorite social media platform.
“TikTok should survive but under new ownership,” Schumer added.
Schumer called out his Republican colleagues for “blocking” their attempts to push the legislation on Wednesday.
Ariana Baio16 January 2025 19:40
