2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Jeff Parsons)
The TikTok saga is back for its next instalment after the 75-day delay on the ban following Donald Trump's executive order is due to expire. That means TikTok's owner ByteDance is in the final countdown to find a U.S.
buyer before the app is again removed from the American market.We followed the events of January's "ban" — where TikTok went dark for only 12 hours — live and now we could be set for a repeat. The deadline is officially up on Saturday, April 5 and several potential buyers have registered their interest.
According to a New York Times report, the e-commerce giant Amazon has even put in a last-minute bid to purchase it.If you need a little refresher on how we got here, you can check out the full backstory of everything that's happened so far. If you're tight on time, then all you need to know that under former President Biden, the TikTok ban was signed into law in the spring of 2024 on national security grounds.
The Supreme Court upheld the band, which was due to take effect in January until President Trump's executive order.Now, there are around 170 million American users waiting to see what the outcome is after this weekend. Alongside Amazon, the web giant Oracle has been cited as a potential investor in TikTok.
We'll be following the news live as it happens over the next couple of days leading up to the ban either taking effect, or being nullified by an American acquisition deal before Saturday's deadline.Live — latest updatesHere we go again(Image credit: Shutterstock)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?(Image credit: ROBERTO SCHMIDT / Getty Images)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..
