President Donald Trump has just 48 hours left to make a decision before TikTok goes dark for 170 million users in the US.
After last year’s fiasco with TikTok pausing its service to US-based users, it looks like the social media platform could be in trouble again.
The president initially called for a ban on TikTok within the US during his first term in the Oval Office but it seems like he has since had a change of heart.
In 2024, Congress passed a bill which former president Joe Biden then signed into law which would ban TikTok in the country unless its parent company, ByteDance, sold it.
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TikTok attempted to fight the ban, even taking the issue to the Supreme Court, although the court sided with the government’s stance on the matter, citing that TikTok could pose a national security threat.
US officials have also argued in the past that the Chinese government could have the potential to use the app in order to spread propaganda to the US population or possible use information gathered on its users to blackmail them, although evidence on how this could be done hasn’t been shared publicly.
The ban came into effect on January 19 of this year, just one day before Trump was inaugurated for his second term.
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Less than 24 hours later, TikTok was back and Trump has since signed executive orders to extend the deadline of the app’s sale.
However, it looks like we could be facing a farewell to the video-sharing app once again as the president has just 48 hours left to make a decision as of the time this article is written (June 17).
This is because his most recent extension will expire on June 19, meaning ByteDance will need to either reach a deal, sell the app or shut it down for its 170 million US users.
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After his election campaign last year, Trump praised the app for helping him to reach young voters.
Speaking to a crowd at AmericaFest, which was organized by the conservative group Turning Point, the president said: “I think we’re going to have to start thinking because, you know, we did go on TikTok, and we had a great response with billions of views, billions and billions of views.
“They brought me a chart, and it was a record, and it was so beautiful to see, and as I looked at it, I said, ‘maybe we gotta keep this sucker around for a little while’.”