- Title: EXPLAINER — What's next for TikTok as US sale deadline looms?
- Date: 1st April 2025
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (MARCH 21, 2025) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) CEO OF BATTEN HALL AND SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERT, DREW BENVIE, SAYING: "The other potential outcome here is that TikTok and the U.S. do not reach a deal. And TikTok has to come offline again. And what we saw last time was users flooding to other social networks. Many others exist. Many alternatives
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Bytedance China Donald Trump Facebook Instagram Meta Oracle Rednote TikTok TikTok ban Trump YouTube internet social media social network
- Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
- City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
- Country: US
- Topics: North America,Government/Politics,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA00E064221032025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: TikTok has returned to Apple and Google's U.S. app stores weeks after President Donald Trump delayed a ban of the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.
Millions of U.S. users can now download the app and update it again.
The app temporarily went dark in January before a law requiring owner ByteDance to either sell it or face a ban due to concerns over national security and algorithmic influence was due to come into effect on Jan. 19.
TikTok has denied that it has or ever would share U.S. user data.
Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20, delaying the law's enforcement by 75 days.
Trump is considering extending the 75-day delay but has said he doesn't think that will be necessary as he believes a buyer will be found.
Other countries have already banned the app.
WHAT DOES THE U.S. BAN MEAN FOR USERS?
TikTok was made briefly unavailable in the United States in January, with users unable to view videos, but it has since returned online.
Trump's executive order directed the Justice Department to issue letters to companies like Apple, Alphabet's Google and Oracle that work with TikTok "stating that there has been no violation of the statute and that there is no liability for any conduct that occurred during the above-specified period".
When asked what the TikTok order does, Trump said it "just gave me the right to sell it or close it," adding that he needed to make a decision.
The president has previously said he would want the United States to have "a 50% ownership position in a joint venture" should TikTok be sold by ByteDance.
Despite the initial ban being passed unanimously, U.S. lawmakers on both sides have said that ByteDance should have more time to divest the app.
WHERE ELSE HAS TIKTOK BEEN BANNED?
The United States, Britain and several European Union bodies have already imposed bans solely on government devices, but other countries have gone further.
In November, Canada ordered TikTok's business in the country be dissolved, citing national security concerns, but it has not blocked users' access to the app.
Iran, Afghanistan and Somalia have banned TikTok, as has Senegal, which took action in 2023 following the arrest of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko. The government said the platform was being used to distribute "hateful and subversive messages" that were threatening the stability of the country.
In December, Albania announced a year-long TikTok ban after a 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death by a fellow student after the two reportedly clashed online.
India banned TikTok in 2020. Pakistan has issued four temporary bans, with the most recent ending in November 2022.
Nepal also banned the app, with authorities saying it was disrupting "social harmony" and goodwill.
Taiwan, which prohibits a wide range of Chinese business operations, has banned the app on state-owned devices and in December 2022 opened an investigation into TikTok over suspected illegal operations on the island.
TikTok is unavailable in China, where citizens use its Chinese equivalent Douyin. While the two apps work similarly, content is not shared between them, and Douyin remains under tight censorship.
DOES TIKTOK POSE A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT?
TikTok is only of espionage value when used on the devices of people connected to national security functions, according to a report published in January 2023 by Georgia Tech's Internet Governance Project.
But other digital experts have pushed back on the report's conclusion.
A report from Forbes magazine in 2022 found that ByteDance had used the TikTok app to track multiple journalists to discover the source of leaks.
TikTok has said "these bans are misguided and do nothing to further privacy or security."
WILL OTHER COUNTRIES BAN TIKTOK?
Other countries that have close security relations with the United States have not decided to implement TikTok bans.
Australia, which is part of the "Five Eyes" security alliance that includes Canada, New Zealand and the United States, said it had not received advice from its security agencies to ban the app.
Britain, which is also a member of the network, has not banned the app.
However, countries could now follow the U.S. lead, Walker said.
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