Is time up for TikTok in the US?

美国时间是否已到尽头?

The Inquiry

2025-09-09

22 分钟
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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
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  • Welcome to the inquiry from the BBC World Service with me, David Baker.

  • Each week, one question, four expert witnesses, and an answer.

  • It's the 19th of January, 2025, the day before Donald Trump's second inauguration,

  • and the popular video-sharing app TikTok has just gone dark for its 170 million US users.

  • Millions of Americans are waking up this morning to a TikTok app where you can't scroll or post and said all you see is a message that it's unavailable This is because of a political standoff that began more than nine months before.

  • In April 2024, the US Congress passed a law giving ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese owner, a choice.

  • Sell its US operations to an American buyer or face a ban.

  • The law passed with rare bipartisan support over concerns about Chinese influence and data security.

  • ByteDance failed to meet the US demands and the app went offline.