Donald Trump says he will sign an executive order on January 20 to delay enforcing the TikTok US ban and argues for a TikTok joint venture with 50% US ownership
Yes, Trump said he's “most likely” to give #TikTok 90-day extension. — No, that's not a legally available option. — The 270 days lapsed. An extension is no longer available (even if TikTok met 3 conditions for extension, which it surely doesn't.) [image] Nilay Patel / @reckless : I'm sorry but “Trump illegally nationalizes TikTok” is one thousand percent the funniest possible outcome www.theverge.com/2025/1/19/24... Denise Howell / @denisehowell.info : Arguably scarier than what Congress sought to prevent. [embedded post] Mike Masnick / @mmasnick : Dumbest First Amendment hypo ever just dropped. If US owns TikTok can it moderate? Can it even use the algorithm to promote some content over other in a way that doesn't violate the First Amendment [embedded post] Emily Baker-White / @ebakerwhite : To be clear: he wants an American Douyin. [image] @nycsouthpaw : I'm trying, and I hope other people will try, to hold onto the simple notion that a US president cannot simply declare a federal law that was passed last year and literally upheld this week to be a nullity—even if it's a not-so-hot law. The Congress is the body that can amend or repeal federal laws. Mike Masnick / @mmasnick : The tricky thing here is the law is so stupidly written, it's not entirely clear what happens if Trump makes a non-enforcement declaration. Because the “enforcement” is on Apple/Google to block the app. — And do they trust Trump not to turn around and send the DOJ after them for not blocking? [embedded post] Threads: Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life : My final thoughts on the TikTok situation is that the company has played the PR game masterfully. 1. The law says sell the U.S. version of the app so it's no longer subject to Chinese government control or be banned. TikTok got all their users and the media to focus on the ban not divestment. 2. The error message on accessing the app puts Donald Trump on the spot for restoring the app by referencing him by name. Now he risks losing some face if he doesn't get it done, so pressure's on him. Josh Williams / @jw : Gonna be wild to watch the President ignore congressional law and a Supreme Court ruling on Day One, and neither will do anything because, well, you can't impeach and you can't convict... And because everybody loooooves TikTok society is just gonna let it fly. 🆒🆒🆒 Luvvie Ajayi Jones / @luvvie : The GOVERNMENT owning a major outlet is called STATE OWNED MEDIA. This is Fascism. And he is at least telling us the plan. So when it happens, have zero surprise. X: Jeremiah Johnson / @jeremiahdjohns : Fun fact: After viewing classified material about the CCP's influence on TikTok, the bill to ban TikTok passed committee with a 50-0 vote. Fifty to zero, MAGA + centrists + DSA members were unanimous. All the accounts bemoaning this seem totally incurious why that might be. @zachweinberg : The American worker should care deeply & support banning Tiktok. When China: - Steals IP of US co's - Bans US co's from operating in China - Subsidizes their industry (think: cheap solar panels) to harm ours All of these actions hurt US companies and wages for US employees. Matthew Gertz / @mattgertz : A lesson from the TikTok Affair should be that bipartisan efforts to preserve U.S. national security are vulnerable to the incoming president getting bought off and switching sides for his own personal and political benefit. Not great! Ezra Klein / @ezraklein : Also, a simple trade could be that we allow TikTok to thrive in America under Chinese ownership if they open the Chinese market to our platforms. Trump's a dealmaker, he should demand a deal that is good for America, not just one that enriches him, personally. [image] Ezra Klein / @ezraklein : Weird reading the final sentence of my 2022 piece on TikTok. Now it's...what? Donald Trump was right and Donald Trump should finish what he started? [image] Barb McQuade / @barbmcquade : As I wrote in Bloomberg on Friday, Trump does not have authority to delay TikTok ban unless it has a buyer lined up. He hasn't taken office yet, and he is already violating the law. https://www.bloomberg.com/... Peter Kafka / @pkafka : Say this for Tom Cotton: He has actually read the law that went into effect last night. https://www.cotton.senate.gov/ ... [image] Mark Cuban / @mcuban : What's the difference between a gov controlling an algorithm, silently eliminating reach for things it doesn't like? Vs the same gov using its power, to demand that the platform remove the things it doesn't like.? In China they say what apps can't do. With TikTok in the US, they influence, silence and control users algorithmically. They never see it coming. Ryan Saavedra / @realsaavedra : Allowing China to maintain any ownership in TikTok does nothing to fix the national security concerns. China is harvesting American's data and they can use it to manipulate and control what Americans think about key issues. Paul Blest / @pblest : Nationalizing TikTok, privatizing everything else Sean Garrette / @seangarrette : so...it's not about “national security” it's about money and the U.S government wanting to have a say in how TikTok is run. exactly. thank you for clarifying Alex Heath / @alexeheath : no more plea to Trump in TikTok's in-app offline message this morning he said the US should own 50% of the app meanwhile, some folks are able to access via the website? disaster [image] Alex Heath / @alexeheath : Trump asking service providers like Apple to host TikTok anyway, when that makes them liable for insane fines, shows how little ability he actually has to do anything here Bytedance has to sell, which means China has to be on board with a deal https://www.theverge.com/... Adam Kovacevich / @adamkovac : Trump's DOJ won't prosecute any co that “helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.” Interesting phrasing. I'm not aware of any co that helped TT from going dark BEFORE his order (maybe Oracle?). He's NOT saying he's immunizing companies from future noncompliance. [image] Adam Kovacevich / @adamkovac : EO “extending the period of time before the law's prohibitions take effect.” Too late - the law took effect today. It allowed for a one-time 90 day extension of that date IF negotiations were in place. [image] Adam Kovacevich / @adamkovac : Trump: Let's have 50% US ownership of TikTok. ByteDance currently has 15% US investor ownership. But the CCP will never let US interests gain a controlling share. This skates over the key issues over CCP propaganda interests and data access. [image] Adam Kovacevich / @adamkovac : Plus congressional republicans have already thrown water on this. Cotton and Ricketts: “Now that hte law has taken effect, there's no legal basis for any kind of ‘extension’ of its effective date.” [image] Adam Kovacevich / @adamkovac : “Asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark” is pretty meaningless given the law's clear requirements on hosting co's and app stores - $1k/day fines. Companies aren't going to ignore the law's liability requirements just because Trump “asked.” [image] Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : The problem with this is, other countries would follow. Breaking up US companies into local co-owned subsidiaries would replace a founder-led free market economy with an oligopolistic division of markets into 50/50 “partnerships” with politically connected local fief lords. Brian Stelter / @brianstelter : Let's say TikTok access is restored Monday afternoon. What will 36 hours of TikTok detox do to users? People often describe the app as “addicting.” Will they feel withdrawal? Will this brief blackout have any lasting effect on user habits? Dan Primack / @danprimack : Just logged into a WiFi account in Switzerland and U.S. TikTok accounts work fine. Which is odd if all the U.S. account data was supposed to be on Oracle servers, which have been shut off. Any techie out there able to explain? Aaron Levie / @levie : Fine, Box can make a bid for TikTok as long as we can turn the main feed into trending business documents. Igor Bobic / @igorbobic : Speaker Johnson on NBC this morning notes: “The law is very precise, and the only way to extend that is if there is an actual deal in the works.” Matt Turck / @mattturck : The TikTok ban lasted as long as a TikTok lol [image] David Ingram / @david_ingram : What's the name for a type of system where the government owns the means of production? [image] M.G. Siegler / @mgsiegler : It's nearly impossible to parse in his version of English but what it *sounds* like he's suggesting is that he wants the US *government* to split any purchase with a US acquiring company. Which is just perfect. What could possibly go wrong? Matthew Gertz / @mattgertz : After all the years of GOP complaints about the Biden administration getting involved in social media moderation the solution here is for the federal government to **own** half of a platform alongside a Chinese company? Marc Caputo / @marcacaputo : 2/2 not sure how an EO can legally trump a law but this might buy time and Trump is at least getting caught trying The idea of getting the US govt as an owner of a social media app is ... different Sam Stein / @samstein : State owned TikTok or a US based private company? Kind of an important distinction Dan Primack / @danprimack : If Trump issues an EO to basically overturn the TikTok ban law, what's to stop him from doing the same with most any other law? Not a rhetorical question. No matter how one feels about TikTok, there seem to be some major constitutional issues at play here. Chris Murphy / @chrismurphyct : TikTok tucking itself in with Trump. Twitter under control of the White House. Facebook making major changes to placate MAGA, doing PR campaign to align w Trump. Does everyone not see what's happening here and how terrifying this is. [image] Forums: r/neoliberal : Trump says he will issue an executive order Monday to get TikTok back up r/TheMajorityReport : Trump says he will issue an executive order Monday to get TikTok back up r/politics : Trump says he will issue an executive order Monday to get TikTok back up r/moderatepolitics : TikTok goes dark as US ban takes effect r/NewsAndPolitics : TikTok goes dark in the US r/WeirdGOP : TikTok goes dark in the US See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
TikTok entered the deadline under a federal appeals-court ruling that affirmed Congress’s authority to act over US interests, leaving ByteDance with little room under the original timetable. The court ruling that kept the sale-or-ban deadline in place made any post-deadline intervention legally consequential rather than routine.
The immediate distribution stakes were already visible: Apple listed TikTok and other ByteDance apps as inaccessible in the US. Apple’s removal of ByteDance apps from US availability shows that enforcement uncertainty reaches beyond TikTok’s corporate ownership.
First-order effects
- A presidential enforcement pause would give TikTok and ByteDance operational breathing room while a US-ownership structure is explored, but its legal footing is contested because the statutory extension period had lapsed.
- Apple, Google, and TikTok’s US users and business customers would face conflicting signals over whether ByteDance apps should remain available or be restored during any delay.
Second-order effects
- Potential US investors gain leverage in negotiations because a 50% US joint venture becomes the proposed path to continued access, while ByteDance must weigh whether that structure is acceptable.
- App-store operators and advertisers would need contingency plans for repeated changes in availability, rather than treating the January deadline as a clean final outcome.
Third-order effects
- If enforcement is repeatedly managed through executive action while ownership talks continue, the sale-or-ban law may function less as a fixed deadline and more as leverage for restructuring control of foreign-owned platforms.
- The episode could establish a contested precedent in which platform access, ownership, and national-security policy are negotiated together, with courts and app distributors becoming key implementation gates.
The trend: TikTok is becoming a test case for using market access and distribution control to press for domestic influence over strategically sensitive foreign-owned platforms.