TikTok ban delayed again — live updates on deadline extension and what's happening right now
TikTok given another 75 days to find a U.S. buyer
Here we go again
When TikTok was "banned" in Janaury, the Chinese company behind the app — ByteDance — voluntarily switched off the service for U.S.-based users. It was only down for 12 hours, but it was a sign of what could happen if a buyer isn't found.
However, things have changed somewhat as Trump has indicated that he will extend the deadline if needed. Meanwhile, there have been a number of potential buyers interested in acquiring the service.
"We have a lot of potential buyers. There’s tremendous interest in TikTok,” Trump said. “I’d like to see TikTok remain alive."
We'll be following the events as they happen and bringing you the latest updates right here.
Another extension?
The initial TikTok ban was averted due to an executive order from President Trump that delayed it by 75 days. Could the same thing happen again?
According to sources speaking with ABC News, the administration is considering another executive order that could extend the deadline further. The site also reports the government is considering a deal to save TikTok that would let China keep control of the platform's algorithm while a U.S. company takes a minority stake.
Amazon makes a bid
By far the biggest name in the mix for a possible takeover of TikTok is Amazon. According to a report in the the New York Times earlier this week, the retail giant made an offer through a letter addressed to Vice President J.D. Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The bid from Amazon makes a lot of sense as TikTok has recently evolved into an e-commerce hub where influencers can recommend products to followers. They can shop within the app via the TikTok Shop and from Amazon's point of view, that's some serious competition.
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What happened in January?
Before the law could be enforced, TikTok itself begun shutting the app's services down in the U.S. on the evening of Saturday 18 January. The app's 170 million users were hit with pop-up messages explaining the app was no longer available in the U.S.
The message instructed people to "stay tuned" as a solution was expected to be worked on with President Trump when he took office on Monday 20 January.
If no deal is reached by April 5 and there's no further extension, we could see a similar switch-off this weekend.
OnlyFans founder reportedly interested
The founder of OnlyFans (yes, that OnlyFans), Tim Stokely, is also reportedly interested in acquiring TikTok and has (as per Reuters) submitted a bid for the platform.
Stokely is said to be partnering with an organisation called HBAR Foundation which manages the treasury for the Hedera cryptocurrency blockchain to make the bid. According to Reuters, Stokely's publishing company Zoop would be involved in managing TikTok's U.S. operations to turn it into a more creator-friendly platform. Which would be interesting, to say the least.
Potential buyers
President Donald Trump has said that a deal to secure TikTok's future in the U.S. is "very close", so let's take a look at who's currently in the running.
The administration has set a deadline of April 5 for the app to be sold by Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance. However, there is some suggestion that a minority stake owned by a U.S company with China retaining control of the algorithm could be enough to keep the app alive.
As the clock is ticking, here's who's potentially in the game to take over TikTok:
- Amazon
- Oracle
- Microsoft
- Perplexity (AI company)
- Blackstone (private equity company)
- Elon Musk
- Tim Stokely (OnlyFans founder)
- Kevin O'Leary (Mr. Wonderful from TV's "Shark Tank")
- MrBeast (YouTuber)
How did it get to this?
In case you haven't been following the saga, it started back in August 2020 after the first Trump administration's executive order to attempt to ban the app. Back then, it was determined the app "continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States."
Trump changed course in March 2024, when he argued that while there were national security concerns, TikTok would empower Facebook — a social media platform that he branded the "enemy of the people."
But by this point, congressional hearings had already been happening for 12 months, and a bill to ban the platform had already gathered steam in Congress. The bill passed with bipartisan support last year. If you need to know more, here's a full timeline.
JD Vance confident of a deal
According to Vice President J.D. Vance, a deal will be made before tomorrow's deadline.
"I think that we're in a good place," Vance said in an interview with Fox News yesterday.
"We're going to keep on working at it."
His words follow those of President Trump, who told reporters aboard Air Force One last month he would "like to see TikTok remain alive”.
“We have a lot of potential buyers," Trump said on March 30. "There’s tremendous interest in TikTok".
UK won't ban TikTok
While TikTok could possibly go offline in the US this weekend if a deal isn't reach, the same isn't true across the pond.
As reported by The Guardian, Labour MP Darren Jones confirmed there is "no plan from the U.K." to ban the app. "...for consumers who want to post videos of their cats or dancing, that doesn’t seem like a national security threat to me."
So if you're reading this in the United Kingdom, don't expect any sort of restrictions to be put in place any time soon "unless or until, at some point in the future there is a threat that we are concerned about in the British interest."
TikTok security feature
This whole thing started due to concerns over the security and national security implications of TikTok. But did you know that the app has recently unveiled some new security features of its own?
Security Checkup is TikTok’s latest security feature, acting as a centralized hub for managing account security settings. Instead of digging through different menus, users can now quickly review and adjust their login details, authentication methods, and active devices in one dashboard.
How much is TikTok worth?
TikTok has said that over 170 million Americans use the app, and nearly 5 million businesses have relied on it's platform to get started and grow a customer base.
As you might expect, the company won't come cheap. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives estimates (via Forbes) TikTok is worth “well north of $100 billion” with the algorithm. He also said the social media app could be valued at up to $200 billion in a “best case scenario".
TikTok facing $552 million fine from Europe
TikTok's parent company ByteDance is set to be hit with a fine of over €500 million ($552 million) for illegally shipping European users’ data to China, according to a Bloomberg report.
Following a lengthy investigation, the European Union has determined the Chinese app has broken the bloc's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) privacy law. Anonymous sources speaking to Bloomberg said engineers were sending European users' data to China to be accessed by engineers.
The fine is reportedly set to be issued against TikTok before the end of the month.
Will ByteDance actually sell TikTok?
From the American side there has been a lot of offers and confidence that deal will get done that involves some U.S. entity gaining total or partial control of TikTok's U.S. assets.
However, ByteDance executives have repeatedly said that TikTok is not for sale and that is doubtful the Chinese government would approve one.
No public commitment to allow a sale has been issued from Beijing.
At least two ByteDance board members, Jeff Yass of Susquehanna International Group and Bill Ford of General Atlantic, are reportedly leading sales discussions with the White House, but it's not clear if they have enough political or international sway to help make a sale a reality.
Once again, like in January, ByteDance may just let TikTok go dark instead of selling.
Will tariffs factor in?
This week President Trump revealed across the board tariffs that will affect prices for goods from many trade partners with the U.S. with China seeing the highest at 54%.
A big chunk of American and Chinese economic spending is via goods imported from China to the US.
Trump has implied that countries who give him "phenomenal" deals might get some of the tariffs reduced.
“If somebody said that we’re going to give you something that’s so phenomenal, as long as they’re giving us something that’s good,” Trump told Bloomberg.
In that same report, Trump said that he'd be "willing to offer tariff relief" to China if TikTok was sold.
Whether or not China wants to negotiate with Trump over TikTok still remains unclear, but it's clear the tariffs are having effects.
As an example, long time international rivals Japan, South Korea and China have banded together to counteract the U.S. tariffs. Those three countries have long, bloody, adversarial histories, so this is a surprising move for them to so vocally work together.
Trump delays TikTok ban again
TikTok received another reprieve just now, as President Trump posted on the conservative social media platform 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."
TikTok was facing a looming April 5 deadline to sell the company to a U.S. owner in compliance with U.S. law.
Now the company has until June 19 to finalize any actual "deals" that may be in progress.
What happens now?
For the average TikTok user, this means that the app will not go dark tomorrow and they will be free to use the app between now and June 19 as usual.
For ByteDance, it gives the company more breathing room in what has been an ongoing legal battle with the United States over the status of the app in the country.
As a reminder, this process has been ongoing since at least 2020 when Trump first floated the idea of banning the app during his first administration. It did pick up speed in the last year culminating in the April 2024 official ban signed into law by then-President Biden.
The delays do not halt the ban, and it is technically illegal for TikTok to operate in the U.S. while it retains ties with China.
Trump suggests tariffs are helping
As part of his Truth Social post, Trump seemed to suggest that "reciprocal tariffs" may have led to China working with his administration on TikTok.
"We hope to continue working in Good Faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs (Necessary for Fair and Balanced Trade between China and the U.S.A.!)," the post reads.
As proof that China is not happy with Trump's tariffs, look no further than the news today that China is imposing 34% tariffs on US goods imported there, which start on April 10.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a briefing, "We have emphasized more than once that trade and tariff wars have no winners. Protectionism leads nowhere. We urge the U.S. to stop doing the wrong thing, and resolve trade differences with China and other countries through consultation with equality, respect and mutual benefit."
Whether or not Trump heeds that appears unlikely, his TikTok posted continued, "This proves that Tariffs are the most powerful Economic tool."
Walmart enters as a contender
A new report from ABC News claims that Walmart is possibly putting together a bid for TikTok now that Trump has extended the ban deadline to June 19.
Walmart hasn't been seen as a potential buyer this cycle, but the retail giant was part of a potential Microsoft team up in 2020 that looked into purchasing TikTok when Trump first floated the idea of a ban.
Allegedly, Walmart was triggered to try a bid after Amazon reportedly sent one to the Trump administration on Thursday, April 3.
Currently, TikTok has its own e-commerce system set up and many influencers encourage followers to purchase from their Amazon affiliate links.
Presumably, Walmart's investment would give it access to to the 170 million American users who could become customers and see Walmart advertisements for its e-commerce businesses.
Bytedance finally comments on potential sale
After the Trump administration issued yet another executive order pushing the TikTok ban's deadline, this time by 75 days to June 18, a ByteDance spokesperson said on Friday the company "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," Reuters reports.
President Donald Trump has said his administration was in touch with four different groups about a prospective TikTok deal. "We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the deal," Trump wrote on TruthSocial on Friday.
TikTok Deal reportedly put on hold by China
A report from Reuters says that there was a deal in place to spin off the U.S. TikTok on Wednesday, April 2.
However, according to the report, President Trump's reciprocal tariffs announcement Thursday may have caused the Chinese government to back off the deal.
Apparently, China said it would not approve the deal following the tariffs announcement.
The deal would have created a new company based in the U.S. and owned by U.S. investors, with ByteDance holding a minority position under 20%.
On Wednesday, the deal was apparently approved by existing and new investors, ByteDance and the U.S. government.
Trump may have hinted at deal issues on Thursday
With reports coming out that China pulled out of a potential TikTok sale deal that was allegedly mostly final on Wednesday, it turns out President Trump may have hinted at this on Thursday after he announced his controversial reciprocal tariffs.
Allegedly, the deal was scuttled because of the tariffs Trump announced and China's displeasure with them, which Chinese spokespeople have repeatedly denounced.
According to a The Hill report, Trump was speaking to reports and provided a hypothetical example.
"We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say we’ll approve a deal but will you do something on the tariffs. The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have. I’ve used them very well in the first administration. Now we’re taking it to a whole new level,” Trump said.
Trump denied this was actually happened when pressed about his statement.
"“No I’m just using that as an example," he said.
U.S. TikTok creators at their wit's end
@johnstone.gregory ♬ original sound - Greg Johnstone
TikTok creators in the U.S. are understandably frustrated as President Donald Trump plays will-he-won't-he with banning the app. Trump's decision on Friday to extend the sale of the platform for another 75 days came as welcome news to those who depend on TikTok for their livelihood, but with the app still stuck in regulatory purgatory, it's a short-lived victory.
