On Sunday, March 9, President Donald Trump told reporters that a deal with TikTok could come soon. Shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, Trump gave TikTok a 75-day extension of the Jan. 19 law of TikTok either being banned or ByteDance, its parent-company based in China, having to strip themselves of ownership. As a result of Trump’s executive order, this law would now go into effect on April 5.
Source: AP News, Mike Stewart
Based on the current deadline, TikTok would once again be banned on April 5 if it is not sold to an approved buyer by then, but Trump said another extension is possible.
According to the Associated Press, the AI startup company Perplexity AI and a consortium originated by billionaire businessman Frank McCourt are two of the entities with bids on TikTok, with the former proposing a merger with ByteDance.
In February, Trump suggested that the U.S. could potentially own part of TikTok through a “new government-owned investment fund,” per AP.
The AP reported that many details would need to be negotiated between ByteDance and a potential U.S.-based buyer to determine the flow of content between the U.S. and rest of the world, among other topics.
“I am skeptical that TikTok will actually be banned in April since this has been threatened many times before and never happened, but it is a possibility. As someone who scrolls on the app regularly, I hope that it will be bought so that people who use it for fun, work, or both won’t lose access,” said senior Amanda Valency.
Lauren Kehrle contributed to this article.
