Many of us remember January 19, the day TikTok was erased from app stores before being reinstated approximately 12 hours later.
We were told TikTok had a new shelf life of 75 days, and promised a US buyer would soon swoop in to save the day.
But today, April 4, is 75 days after January 19 - and we still don't have a finalized deal in place for one of the world's largest social media platforms with over 175M US users.
Is TikTok actually getting banned in the United States again?
No, TikTok won't disappear from app stores - yet
Even though that initial 75 day grace period, issued by Presidential executive order decree, has now passed, TikTok is here to stay...for now.
The Trump administration has issued yet another executive order to keep TikTok in US app stores for another 75 days, which makes the new deadline June 18.
He explains in a post on Truth Social, "My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress. The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days."
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More importantly, ByteDance sent us their first public comment on the potential sale, and, to be honest, it sounds no more certain that what we''re hearing from President Trump:
"ByteDance has been in discussion with the U.S. Government regarding a potential solution for TikTok U.S. An agreement has not been executed. There are key matters to be resolved. Any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law," said a ByteDance spokeperosn in an email sent to TechRadar.
The question remains: How many 75-day extensions will we get before the long-awaited deal is finalized?
Trump mentions his administration does "not want TikTok to 'go dark,'" but at this time, we have very few details on the potential deal in place, and ByteDance notes there are "key matters" they still have to resolve.
While we wait for the pair to reach an agreement, there are numerous TikTok suitors in the mix.
We're aware of some interested parties, namely:
- Mr Beast
- Perplexity AI
- Oracle
- A consortium that includes Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary
- The White House
But TikTok's fate ultimately still looms in the balance as nothing concrete has come from any of these potential buyers.
Governments, Tariffs, and TikTok
President Trump also touches on tariffs, which have been making waves recently as popular tech companies deal with the rising costs of production and transit.
Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders were just announced as delayed in the US "amid tariff uncertainty" for example, and it's possible the Chinese government isn't interested in approving a sale with these hefty fines in place.
Trump explains, "We hope to continue working in Good Faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs (Necessary for Fair and Balanced Trade between China and the U.S.A.!). This proves that Tariffs are the most powerful Economic tool, and very important to our National Security!"
It's undoubtedly a rocky sea to navigate, but at least we know we have another 75 days of doom scrolling ahead of us.
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