The United States tried to ban TikTok
Phoenix Technology News, China Standard Time September 11, according to the mandatory law signed by US President Biden in April this year, bytedance needs to find a new owner for TikTok’s US operations by January 19,2025, or the app will be banned in the US. With just over four months to go before the ban, TikTok employees and their advertisers don’t seem to be worried, US media said.
On Monday, TikTok’s lawyers will try to persuade a US appeals court to stop Tiktok’s spin-off, according to The Information, a US technology website. Tiktok executives say they are confident of achieving that goal, according to two people who spoke to TikTok executives recently. TikTok’s legal challenge could delay the ban for six months or more.
Business as usual
So within TikTok, Zero American TikTok employees acted as if nothing was going to happen, and the app was largely business as usual. They continue to pursue ad sales and user growth, host creator events and plan to hire thousands of employees. Last month, for example, about 30 TikTok creators gathered in upstate new Catskill on a sweltering weekend for a multi-day live event hosted by TikTok.
Tiktok employees are not alone in their equanimity. At the Cannes Advertising Festival in June, Business Insider asked ad buyers what they would do if TikTok disappeared within a few months. As a result, they all shrug their shoulders in disapproval. This is not because they do not care, but because it seems unlikely.
For those who think TikTok will stay, there seems to be hope that TikTok will resolve the ban through a combination of legal and political action. Here’s what they think: TikTok’s lawyers are challenging the ban on grounds of First Amendment violations and are planning oral arguments next week. They want at least one injunction to delay the January deadline for divestitures by a few months.
TikTok challenged the divestiture law in court
Tiktok’s leadership also believes there may be an opportunity for The company to negotiate a solution with The next US administration, but they intend to wait until after The US election in November, according to The Information. That option, however, seems more difficult to implement, since TikTok was forced to divest by a law passed by Congress and signed by the President.
The presidential candidates don’t care
Even so, the law does not seem to be getting much attention in current American politics. Neither Donald Trump nor Harriss’s presidential campaign talked about the TikTok ban. Instead, both candidates’ campaigns have set up their own TikTok accounts and are actively using the app. According to the Pew Research Center, only a third of Americans now support a ban, compared with 50% in 2023 times.
However, the mindset that TikTok will not be banned may be a gross miscalculation, as was the case when the TikTok divestment Bill first emerged earlier this year, when no one thought it would ever become law.
In any case, this is an unusual time: in theory, Tiktok, America’s hottest short-video service, could disappear in a few months, but you won’t hear anything about it.