Will TikTok be banned in the U.S. this January? A viral online post claims that the platform could be facing its final days in the U.S. market.
“BREAKING: TikTok’s last day is January 19, 2025,” reads the post, which has spread on social media platforms including Threads and Facebook.
The posts are not entirely incorrect, as they reference a deadline set by Congress for TikTok’s parent company to divest from its U.S. business, but are missing important context. A bill prohibiting Chinese ownership of TikTok, which passed earlier this year, does take effect on January 19, 2025. However, the prohibition is being challenged in court, and the incoming Trump administration has vowed to prevent its implementation.
In April 2024, lawmakers passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which required ByteDance—TikTok’s Chinese parent company—to sell its business interest or face a ban. The act, which broadly bans social media companies from being controlled by a foreign adversary country, passed as part of a broad supplemental appropriations bill that also included aid provisions for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
According to the act, ByteDance must execute a qualified divestiture of its TikTok platform within 270 days of the law’s enactment, after which the prohibition will take effect. However, the legislation also includes a provision allowing businesses to challenge the prohibition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia within 165 days of the bill’s enactment.
ByteDance sued to block the prohibition on First Amendment grounds in May, and the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case in September. According to the New York Times, the court is expected to make a decision before the end of the year, giving the U.S. Supreme Court time to hear a potential appeal of the case before the prohibition takes effect in January.
Last week, the Washington Post reported that President-elect Donald Trump would try to stop the ban from taking effect—a promise he made during his campaign. Action by the Trump administration could include refusing to enforce the ban, encouraging lawmakers to repeal the prohibition, or assisting ByteDance in finding a path for divestment.
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