TikTok Poised for Reprieve as Trump Team Pledges Extension
Even if the law is upheld, TikTok won’t disappear off Americans’ phones immediately on Sunday.
Photographer: Ore Huiying/BloombergTikTok is poised to win a reprieve from a law that would ban the popular social media app thanks to a holiday weekend and a pledge from President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration to give its Chinese owner more time to divest.
Under the law, ByteDance Ltd. is required to find a buyer for TikTok or face a shutdown on Jan. 19, while a president can grant a 90-day extension on that deadline if a serious purchase negotiation is underway. While no such deal is imminent, two current Biden administration officials say that the Sunday deadline — and Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday on Monday — essentially punts enforcement to the next administration. That opens the door for Trump to extend the deadline.