“Sociable” is the latest commentary on important social media developments and trends from industry expert Andrew Hutchinson of Social Media Today.
So today (April 4) is D-Day for TikTok, the final day of its 75-day extension to work out a deal in the U.S. to avoid being banned, the final chance for the Trump Administration to wrangle an arrangement that will appease all sides, and keep the app available for American users, and…
President Trump has announced another 75-day extension of the deadline.
As per Trump (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. We hope to continue working in Good Faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs.”
Yeah, Trump’s large-scale tariffs, which have caused much angst around the world, have also prompted an escalation in America’s ongoing rift with China, which has now led to the Chinese government refusing the proposed U.S. deal to sell TikTok into U.S. ownership.
The White House had reportedly arranged a deal that would see the U.S. arm of TikTok spun off into a separate entity, which would be owned by a group of U.S. shareholders. TikTok owner ByteDance would retain a 19.9% stake in the new business, while America would effectively “lease” TikTok’s almighty algorithm, as opposed to taking full ownership of the app.
That, seemingly, would meet all the requirements of the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” while also appeasing the Chinese government, which has been opposed to any sale of TikTok’s systems, including its algorithms.
But it seems like the Chinese side has refused to accept the proposal, which has forced Trump to extend the negotiation period.
Which he can’t technically do. The TikTok sell-off bill was already approved by the Senate and enacted into law before Trump took office, so technically, right now, TikTok is already banned in the U.S. But Trump has been able to establish a workaround, via executive order, which stops U.S. authorities from enforcing the law at this stage.
That also negates the maximum 90-day extension of the deadline for the bill to go into effect, because the law has already been passed, and is not being enforced, as opposed to not being implemented.
And either way, it remains a risky process. Each U.S. company that enables TikTok to remain in operation in the region faces a $500 per-user fine for the duration of its operation within this period. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has provided written assurances that this will not be enforced (which she has re-affirmed following this latest announcement), which is why TikTok is still running, but an extension of the negotiation period will theoretically increase those liabilities. Which could spook Apple, Google and Oracle, the three businesses that are taking the government at its word on this element.
But right now at least, TikTok remains in operation in the U.S., and will be available till at least the 18th June.
ByteDance shared a simple statement on the update:
“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.”
Sounds not so great for U.S.-China relations, but good for users, though without any longer-term stability for the app.
