In January, the popular Chinese social media app TikTok went offline for its 170 million Americans. The outage marked a turning point in a long-running dispute over data privacy and national security, with US lawmakers concerned about the app’s Chinese ownership. A law passed by Congress required ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to sell its US operations or face a ban.
Although ByteDance did not meet the deadline, the newly inaugurated President Trump postponed enforcement, introducing a timeline for a potential sale. That deadline has since been extended multiple times, with the current cutoff now set for 17 September. But with complex negotiations still underway and Beijing reluctant to approve any deal, Trump has signalled he may grant yet another extension leaving the app’s fate in the US uncertain.
This week on The Inquiry, we’re asking: Is it time up for TikTok in the US?
Contributors:
Alan Rozenshtein, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota
Dr Joanne Gray, Senior Lecturer in Digital Cultures in the Discipline of Media and Communications at the University of Sydney
Anupam Chander, Professor of Law and Technology at Georgetown University
Isabella Wilkinson, Research Fellow in the Digital Society Initiative at Chatham House
Presenter: David Baker
Producer: Matt Toulson
Researcher: Maeve Schaffer
Editor: Louise Clarke
Technical Producer: James Bradshaw
Production Management Assistant: Liam Morrey
(Photo: TikTok message announcing a ban. Credit: NurPhoto/Getty Images)
